How OpenAI, the US government and Persona built an identity surveillance machine
vmfunc.re
February 18, 2026
38 min read
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Summary
OpenAI, the US government, and Persona have developed an identity surveillance system that compiles reports on individuals for federal authorities. The system, known as openai-watchlistdb.withpersona.com, has access to data on 27 million individuals.
Key Takeaways
- OpenAI, the US government, and Persona have developed an identity surveillance system that files reports on individuals to federal authorities.
- The surveillance system utilizes facial recognition algorithms to assess users' identities and check them against watchlists.
- The research conducted on this system was based on publicly available information and did not involve unauthorized access to any systems.
- The authors of the document have taken precautions to ensure the safety of their findings and have distributed them widely to trusted third parties.
Coverage & discussions
Hacker News · vmfunc.re
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Concerns
- The platform's reliance on biometric face databases and extensive verification checks raises significant privacy and ethical concerns, particularly regarding surveillance and potential misuse of data.
- The tagging of Suspicious Transaction Reports with intelligence program codenames suggests a troubling level of government oversight and potential overreach in monitoring individuals.
- The ability to flag users as 'suspicious entities' based solely on facial recognition poses serious risks for discrimination and wrongful profiling.
