It is shaping up as the ultimate battleground royal between personal freedoms versus the nation’s security.

Now, that it has become public that the FBI is spending approximately 1 billion dollars to build and presumably maintain a biometric database, privacy advocates will definitely keep an eye on this new venture.

In fact, they might just keep a retina, iris patterns along with other biological features on the new database which promises to help fight crime and deter terror.

Then, sometimes biometrics can be a double-edge sword case.  If the government can use biometrics to prove a crime, defendants can use the same technology to establish they are not the culprits.  With a super-duper database full of DNA, eyes, facial expressions, the sky can be the limit on identifying the criminals or beating a rap. 

Much depends upon how the FBI might use the information.  If it is for national security purposes and solving crimes, the public will support the intrusion.  But, if Big Brother uses Big Eyeballs for political or other purposes, you can expect a big scream in protest.

One area which might cross the line is whether employers will have access to any of the information to determine the past criminal record of prospective job seekers.   

Collecting biological information and aggregating databases of body parts is nothing new.  However, spending a billion dollars to refine the technology is either very much in need or very scary, indeed.