The recent disclosure that the FBI and ICE have been searching state DMV databases should alarm everyone. According to the Washington Post, researchers have determined that FBI and immigration officials routinely use facial recognition software to search millions of DMV photographs, and most of these searches are done merely on the basis of an email from a federal agent to a local contact without any other oversight. There are over 641 million photographs nationwide in local, state and federal databases, which gives police the ability to compare photos to almost everyone in the United States with little to no guidelines or protections. This is frightening.
Although historically police have had access to fingerprints, DNA or photos for searches, including facial recognition, that data was composed primarily of information obtained in the course of criminal arrests or investigations. In theory at least, there should have been probable cause or other appropriate reason to obtain those fingerprints, DNA, or photos, and the inclusion of that data would have been transparent and subject to review.
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