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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.
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..
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
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?
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...
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.