N.J. to Use Face-Recognition Technology, Scan License Photos for Fraud

[The Straight Story]

N.J. to Use Face-Recognition Technology, Scan License Photos for Fraud

New Jersey is preparing to use facial-recognition technology to scan 18 million photographs for signs of driver’s license fraud.

Photos that are flagged as suspicious will be reviewed before that person can renew their license. MVC inspectors will examine whether the person has a twin or is a married woman who changed her name.

Motor Vehicle Commission Chief Administrator Raymond Martinez tells The Record newspaper facial recognition will help as the state eventually shifts to allowing motorists to renew licenses online and by mail.

Martinez says drivers will visit MVC every eight years, instead of four, for a new photo.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2012/01/24/232467.htm

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Every time I see a story like this it scares the shit out of me.

Sometimes I'm just glad I'm old.

[JustAnotherGen]

2. I like this

Less wait time at DMV.
I can now renew via mail and online.
Greater cost savings in the long run in NJ.

We have one of the highest tax burdens in the US here . . . if we put the expense in now for reduced costs later I'm cool with that.

I'm also thinking this will make social engineering and identity theft more difficult?

[rfranklin]

3. Here's an example of what this is really intended for...

The Crown-owned Insurance Corporation of British Columbia is offering to take photos from Vancouver police that are the subject of active investigations and run them against its licence database. ICBC spokesman Adam Grossman said that if there is a confirmed match, ICBC will let the police know — but it will only turn over personal data if the police get a court order requiring it.


Grossman said the police haven't submitted any photos yet but he said he thinks that is because their investigation is at an early stage.


It is the most high-profile example to date in this country of what Simon Fraser University communication professor Peter Chow-White calls "function creep" — using a technology or process designed for a specific purpose for other purposes. Thanks to face-recognition technology, data collected for drivers' licences could be used for everything from naming rioters to providing police with personal data on people caught committing crimes.


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/insurer+driver+licences+catch+rioters+alarms+privacy+experts/5006609/story.html#ixzz1kOi9zRtK

The Failures Of Facial Recognition Software: Drivers Losing Licenses For Looking Like Terrorists

from the you-know-you're-a-terrorist,-when... dept

Over the years, we've discussed the technological failings of facial recognition software for law enforcement... but they just keep on trying. RichS was the first of a bunch of you to send in the story of the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles suspending licenses due to a match on facial recognition software designed to "detect" terrorists:

After frantic calls and a hearing with Registry officials, Gass learned the problem: An antiterrorism computerized facial recognition system that scans a database of millions of state driver’s license images had picked his as a possible fraud.

It turned out Gass was flagged because he looks like another driver, not because his image was being used to create a fake identity. His driving privileges were returned but, he alleges in a lawsuit, only after 10 days of bureaucratic wrangling to prove he is who he says he is.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110718/11201515151/failures-facial-recognition-software-drivers-losing-licenses-looking-like-terrorists.shtml

[hunter]

4. In California you can go a long time with an old picture.

I still had a pony tail the last time the DMV took my picture.

But even that hair has given up. A haircut for me now goes "buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..."

I don't see the point of facial recognition software at all here. The best facial recognition software on earth is built into people's heads.

If New Jersey can't trust their own DMV clerks or cops to keep fraudulent licensing in check, then their horse is dead, their licensing system kaput. Computer facial recognition software won't bring it back to life, it'll just mask the stench.