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Indiana Bans Driver's License Smiles, For Security
Smelly Jeffrey writes "According to a recent article, Indiana BMV Communications Director Dennis Rosebrough states that applicants for a new or renewed operator's license or state identification card will no longer be allowed to smile and say cheese. Apparently new facial recognition software being employed by the state fails to function when the face is distorted by something as innocuous as smiling. Also on the list of taboos are hats, eyeglasses, and hair that hangs down over the face. The article fails to mention, however, the legality of beards, mustaches, and bushy eyebrows." Similar restrictions are in place for the Enhanced Driver License (which serves as a sort of limited passport) implemented by the state of Washington, among others.
Papers, please.
This is a rule in the UK already for passports, driving licenses, immigration applications etc. Also the background can't be pure white, no hair can be covered (except for religious reasons), only one person per picture, and it's quite tightly defined where in the photo the face must be.
And the employee that gives out the passport is not allowed to question your believe. By this reasoning someon managed to gat a official id card dressed as joker. He later fialed to a a drivers license as joker because the employee refused. In that case you also seem to have no rights.
by the way, later his card was taken in because the card is still owned by government..
Beards are a great point. In my license picture I have no facial hair, now I have a full beard.
I've been bearded since I was 16 (except for a brief charity shave). My perception is that my appearance changes a lot with my changing facial hair - others barely notice because they are looking at different things.
I'm pretty sure that a full beard will reduce the effectiveness of matches but not by a lot - I'd imagine eye position and spacing, nose and brow alignment, ear position and size, head width and height would provide pretty good identifying factors. Sure, obscuring mouth and chin position isn't going to help them get a match but this is just providing a rough sift anyway.
I wouldn't be surprised if all us pogonomists were given a closer look anyway.
Except that if you read the article (I know, this is /.), you would know that this isn't for any of those purposes. It is to stop people applying for multiple licenses under different identities.
Facial recognition is very hard to do well*, most systems have terrible accuracy rates. Since all the images in this system are from the same source, the BMV, they may as well try to standardise the images as much as possible to make the system as accurate as possible, reducing the number of misses and false positives.
* Despite what TV would like you to think. If you think it's easy to do well, you have been watching too much CSI.
Paul Leader
Apparently, one of the earlier states to use facial recognition had caught an identity thief in the act. She had drivers licenses in 5 of her victims names.
That's generally a feature of fascist regimes, but not "the basic tenet", and it certainly isn't why we dislike fascism. Many European countries from 1945 to the mid-eighties also "bundled the powers of state and industry", but they were hardly fascist.
Fascism is defined by extreme nationalism and a disregard for basic human rights. That's what sets it apart from other more benign ideologies.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
The law doesn't actually force the states into making the drinking age 21. As is usual, when Congress anticipates the "that's unconstitutional!" outcry, they, rather than mandate it, make some funding conditional upon it. So, federal interstate highway funding in your state is conditional upon the 21 drinking age and the 0.08% legal limit of intoxication. But the federal government didn't "mandate" it. Neat trick, huh?
When I was photographed for a military ID card in 1962 I was told to relax every facial muscle, no expression whatever.
rj
Where do you think the term "Hoosier" came from? You don't need coffee, you were right on the mark.
"But this one goes to 11!"
I'll probably get flamed for this, but the last time I went through Orange County, the TSA agents were actually really nice!
They smiled. They were polite. They seemed to be serious about their job without being jerks to the passengers. Someone left their expensive camera behind at the security checkpoint and an agent chased them down to give it back to them.
I have had the other experience, but I just wanted to give them props that were due.
Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
Note to the mods- "Hoosier" is not an insult. Indiana is known as "the Hoosier State", and that was the motto on their license plates for decades. Indiana's citizens are proud to be hoosiers.
Not just that, "hoosier" is the official demonym for someone from Indiana. Terms like "Indianan" or "Indianean" or so don't exist - someone from Indiana is a Hoosier by definition, just like someone from Texas is a Texan.
Why is Indiana using facial recognition software? Is there now a database of faces that police are searching every time a crime is committed???
To combat identity theft. At least that's what the local NPR news said this morning.
Apparently the BMV plans to compare your new picture when you get a license to all your previous license pictures. If it looks significantly different, they'll take extra steps to ensure that you are, in fact, who you say you are.
"Folks bent on reinventing the wheel should understand that if it's not round, it ain't a wheel." - Jonah Goldberg
My experience tells me that if you act like you know what you're doing (meaning you read the signs that tell you proper line etiquette) they are usually nice and respectable. It's the people that don't remove the change from their pockets.. don't take the laptop out of the bag.. don't take their shoes off until instructed to do so that causes foul moods.
And not that I blame them. They deal with thousands of people every day who are usually in a hurry and therefore rude to them. I have a short temper with people who can't follow simple directions. Heaven forbid someone who's in line for 20 minutes read one of the 30 signs that tell you to take your shoes off (for example) or the automated announcement every 5 minutes over the PA that tells you what to be ready for.
I try to be polite when I travel, a simple "thank you" can go a long way..
"Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
To combat identity theft. At least that's what the local NPR news said this morning.
Apparently the BMV plans to compare your new picture when you get a license to all your previous license pictures. If it looks significantly different, they'll take extra steps to ensure that you are, in fact, who you say you are.
I was at a seminar today where the General Counsel for the Indiana BMV explained the reason for the new regulation in more detail. Apparently, Indiana had been attracting fraudsters who would apply for a driver's license under someone else's name. In order to prevent this, the clerks at the BMV compare all past driver's license photos with the appearance of the person trying to get the new license. If the clerk noticed a discrepancy, the person was flagged and they needed to have a hearing and provide further proof that they are who they say they are to get the license. That has been going on for "some time."
Under the new system, the photos will be additionally compared using facial recognition software. Further, the system will check faces in its database against one another to determine if someone is getting licenses under multiple names. The software is somewhat limited in that things like smiles and glasses throw it off, hence the regulation.
In other words, the system isn't trying to make it easier for the police, FBI, interpol, etc. to catch you -- it's trying to make it easier for the BMV to catch people applying for licenses fraudulently. At least, that's what the General Counsel said.