FBI, ICE Find State Driver’s License Photos Are a Gold Mine for Facial-Recognition Searches
By News
Published 5 years ago on
July 8, 2019
Share
[aggregation-styles]
The Washington Post
The Washington Post
Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have turned state driver’s license databases into a facial-recognition gold mine, scanning through millions of Americans’ photos without their knowledge or consent, newly released documents show.
Thousands of facial-recognition requests, internal documents and emails over the past five years, obtained through public-records requests by researchers with Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy and Technology and provided to The Washington Post, reveal that federal investigators have turned state departments of motor vehicles databases into the bedrock of an unprecedented surveillance infrastructure.
Police have long had access to fingerprints, DNA and other “biometric data” taken from criminal suspects. But the DMV records contain the photos of a vast majority of a state’s residents, most of whom have never been charged with a crime.
Thousands of facial-recognition requests, internal documents and emails over the past five years, obtained through public-records requests by researchers with Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy and Technology and provided to The Washington Post, reveal that federal investigators have turned state departments of motor vehicles databases into the bedrock of an unprecedented surveillance infrastructure.
Police have long had access to fingerprints, DNA and other “biometric data” taken from criminal suspects. But the DMV records contain the photos of a vast majority of a state’s residents, most of whom have never been charged with a crime.
By Drew Harwell | 7 July 2019
RELATED TOPICS:
New Battlegrounds Emerge in California’s Political Guerrilla War Over Housing
Housing /
2 hours ago
United Methodists Repeal Longstanding Ban on LGBTQ Clergy
Religion /
3 hours ago
US Job Openings Dip to Lowest Level in More Than 3 Years
Economy /
3 hours ago
Biden’s Historic Marijuana Shift Is His Latest Election Year Move for Young Voters
Cannabis /
3 hours ago
Protesters Urge Olympic Officials to Limit Israel’s Paris Games Role
World /
4 hours ago
The Latest | In Israel, Blinken Pushes Hamas to Agree on Gaza Cease-Fire Deal
U.S. /
4 hours ago
What Marijuana Reclassification Means for the United States
Cannabis /
4 hours ago
Categories
Latest
Videos
Housing /
2 hours ago
New Battlegrounds Emerge in California’s Political Guerrilla War Over Housing
Religion /
3 hours ago
United Methodists Repeal Longstanding Ban on LGBTQ Clergy
Economy /
3 hours ago
US Job Openings Dip to Lowest Level in More Than 3 Years
Latest /
1 day ago