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-Lurid Crime Tales-
FBI, ICE use driver license photos without owners' knowledge or consent
2019-07-08
[Boston Globe] WASHINGTON ‐ 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 hundreds of millions of Americans’ photos without their knowledge or consent, newly released documents show.

Thousands of facial-recognition requests, internal documents, and e-mails over the past five years, obtained through public-records requests by Georgetown University researchers and provided to The Washington Post, reveal that federal investigators have turned state Department 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 the majority of a state’s residents, most of whom have never been charged with a crime.
I doubt "Whitey" gave his permission either.
Posted by:Besoeker

#19  'Oh?'

Agree with Skidmark.

The State DMV's (around here, at least) can read your discrete cellphone (or vehicle's) bluetooth/MAC address as you drive down the major roads and Interstates. How do you think Google or WAZE can show the immediate traffic conditions ahead? Alchemy?

They know at about 95-97% of what vehicles are where and how fast they're going.

It's only a minor jump for vehicle/driver association and ID.

The new traffic cameras you see going up have really good resolution too, just sayin'.
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2019-07-08 16:20  

#18  The equipment is there, just not the software implemented...

Oh?
Posted by: Skidmark   2019-07-08 13:25  

#17  Guy Fawkes masks or their high tech equivalent will soon be common place. Welcome to the CyberPunk™ future that we have read about for years.
Posted by: magpie   2019-07-08 12:32  

#16  This technology as certainly sped past any ability to discuss the ethics of it. The question is how much of this will invade our privacy, if at all. And what about future uses? The USG will be able to track you from your front door until you go back into your house, if you live in NYC or DC. The equipment is there, just not the software implemented...
Posted by: 49 Pan   2019-07-08 11:50  

#15  I doubt the states can fight this in court without tripping over the Real ID Act.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2019-07-08 11:31  

#14  Time to rock'n'roll!
Posted by: M. Murcek   2019-07-08 11:26  

#13  And re the makeup thing, I say Bath House Barry masks for all.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2019-07-08 11:22  

#12  It's a brilliant move. Watch illegals' desire to get drivers licenses plummet. Driving without a license is one more crime counting towards deportation. No license, no insurance. Two crimes. No license no instant voter registration and lots less illegals voting in voter ID states. All good.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2019-07-08 11:20  

#11  I foresee a rise in men's makeup, it seems an easy way to fool facial-recognition software! Of course one has to change it around from time to time...
Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance   2019-07-08 10:33  

#10  It's a "Brave New World" for sure. Even Aldous Huxley would crap in his pants.
Posted by: Woodrow   2019-07-08 09:06  

#9  If the gov watches me all day they'll just find out I drink too much and like cheeseburgers.

Watch your health insurance premiums go up.
Posted by: Skidmark   2019-07-08 08:21  

#8  It could be too late for the beef monitoring protocols. I saw the damn thing drive by and reduce speed while firing up my Weber.
Posted by: Besoeker   2019-07-08 07:20  

#7  Didn't the EU plan to use this technique to tax road use? IIRC the idea was dropped cause they couldn't get their own GPS to work.

Big brother will have us all in electronic monitoring collars soon enough. Then they can tax us on how many cheese burgers you eat, drinks you have, etc. etc.

Not for me thanx.
Posted by: AlanC   2019-07-08 07:12  

#6  Misleading headline. Drivers license photos are the property of the state that takes them. The FBI and ICE had the states permission when they accessed the databases. Dont want the state to have your picture? Dont get a drivers license. Its a privilege, not a right. Worked for Kacyzinsky.

We have a right to privacy in our home, not anonymity in public.

Apostrophe key broken. Sorry.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2019-07-08 05:40  

#5  It could alternately read as, 'university an media unhappy with feds finally doing their job'.
Posted by: Dron66046   2019-07-08 03:48  

#4  Facebook does about the same thing with any pictures posted there.
Posted by: Glenmore   2019-07-08 01:28  

#3  There will be a lot of different opinions on this one. I am okay with it. If the gov watches me all day they'll just find out I drink too much and like cheeseburgers. In China, this works pretty well for tracking down criminals. The facial recognition is integrated with cameras in subway stations, bus stations, public places, etc., and if the police need to find someone they just put the system on alert and if the fugitive is spotted the system tells them in real time where he is at. I believe they use similar technology for traffic related stuff. Cameras can track your license as you are driving around, and if you run a red light or speed they'll capture it, and an hour or two later you get a phone call to come down to the police station and pay your fine. As a result, they don't really have urban traffic cops (let alone armed patrol cops). All in all I think it is a pretty good deterrent, and street crime/traffic infarctions are pretty low here.
Posted by: Beau   2019-07-08 01:21  

#2  So when will they fire the FBI and CIA management that was involved in this overreaching decision?
Posted by: gorb   2019-07-08 00:46  

#1  Should be entitled "FBI, ICE leverage technology, seize the initiative.

I saw this GPS bumper sticker recently. I see no reason why GPS monitoring could not be linked to suspension of driver's license or vehicle confiscation for chronic offenders.
Posted by: Besoeker   2019-07-08 00:42  

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