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State Photo-ID Databases Mined By Police
Rick Zeman writes "Showing once again that once a privacy door is opened every law enforcement agency will run through it, The Washington Post details how state drivers license photo databases are being mined by various LEOs in their states--and out. From the article: '[L]aw enforcement use of such facial searches is blurring the traditional boundaries between criminal and non-criminal databases, putting images of people never arrested in what amount to perpetual digital lineups. The most advanced systems allow police to run searches from laptop computers in their patrol cars and offer access to the FBI and other federal authorities. Such open access has caused a backlash in some of the few states where there has been a public debate. As the databases grow larger and increasingly connected across jurisdictional boundaries, critics warn that authorities are developing what amounts to a national identification system — based on the distinct geography of each human face.'"
every time someone gives a description of a getaway car, the cops look it up in the state DMV database. my car's data is in there. my privacy is violated daily because my car might be coming up in searches
My license renewal is coming up. Time to grow a beard and dye my hair.
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
These guys are really trying hard to make sure 1984 and Brave New World actually come true.
Once they have it, they'll misuse it, and tell you it's for your own good.
Freedom has gone out of fashion, and now we're stuck with the surveillance society.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Though I do not agree with law enforcement being able to access everyone's information for identification purposes, I do think that this is not very different from being pulled in for a line up other than the fact that with a line up, you are at least aware of what's happening.
the Government watches you.
This does not stop facial recognition but it does make it work less accurately. Major changes in beard style or glasses will not help a facial recognition systems accuracy.
Illegal Aliens can't get a drivers license... so they are safe from these photo searches...
Ignoring the legal ramifications of this (for now)...
Facial Recognition is neat, I'll give it that. BUT it's not as accurate as people think. Against a small sample set (hundreds) OR with very solid source pics (both A and B) it's decent. But between poor surveillance images and the "margin of error" settings on the software you can end up with lots of false positives.
Add that to the huge DMV databases across the country, you're going to get a LOT of false positives. Sometimes too much data is worse than too little. Imagine showing all 30 matches of VERY VERY similar people to a witness who's already nervous enough. I know the cops already show them handfuls of similar pics: but the "similar" pics might be "chubby white-skinned guy" and not "chubby white-skinned guys that looks REALLY REALLY REALLY similar"
All of this noise is going to cause a headache. Even just adjoining states, you're going to have close enough hits. So what, you're going to have to investigate them? If you're basing off a picture you can't just say "Well he's 30miles away so let's consider him but NOT that guy who's 40miles away"
Sure you might say "Well we'll factor criminal background into this." But if you're basing on a criminal record, then well, why not just use the mug shots?
Privacy? No, privacy is only for the government.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
This does not stop facial recognition but it does make it work less accurately. Major changes in beard style or glasses will not help a facial recognition systems accuracy.
Yes, they will. As weaknesses in facial recognition systems get discovered, they will get patched. Soon it won't matter if you grow or shave your facial hair, whether you dye or bleach your skin, or whatever.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
The state of the art in Facial Recognition software has a long way to go.
At best it can be used to give the police a list of people to look at, and certainly not a list of people to arrest.
There is a lot of false positives. I've tried several off the shelf packages, as well as the FR built into Google's Picasa. (surprisingly good).
Most of these have significant problems of false positives. My sisters look nothing alike, yet two of the commercial products and
Picasa always confuse them, presumably based on facial measurement.
A great deal of the false positives would be weeded out by the police just looking at the pictures, People are so much better at this than
machines.
The only abuse of this I can see is if you are summoned to appear or hauled in kicking and screaming based ONLY on some
automated FR software match. But FR will probably NEVER achieve the reliability standard of a fingerprint, let alone DNA.
So I feel confident that such pictorial drag-netting wouldn't be allowed by the courts. *Cough*. Sure I do.
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I wish this were still tongue in cheek: Your papers please.
Bah! We don't need your stinking papers! We've got it all digitally now. You were scanned and catalogued from birth.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
This is another case of tech and computers automating and making something that was acceptable unacceptable.
Having a cop follow your car around without a warrant? Acceptable. Having a cop put a GPS tracker on your car without a warrant? Unacceptable.
Having someone sit on a street corner and write down every license plate number that goes by, acceptable. Putting a camera there and doing it automatically? Unacceptable (to me but sadly I just have to deal with it)
Pulling the DL info of every 6'2" male with red hair in YourTown and manually comparing to a photo? Acceptable. Comparing that same photo automatically against a database of everyone in the USA, unacceptable.
Many other examples. It comes down to things that were manpower limited before so they were very hard to abuse suddenly becoming trivial.
It's rather important to understand why this is in fact abuse, and not acceptable law enforcement behaviour.
I say the pictures were ment to provide easy verification that the driver's licence you're holding is in fact yours. Matching against databases was not in the original charter, so to speak, and in fact storing the pictures at all beyond display on the licence itself isn't either. It is this stretching of use beyond the original what is so deceitful and ultimately damaging to society.
This quite regardless of who does it (our watchers, for our own good, of course), with what intentions (the very best, for our own good, of course), the direct results (LE is happy with their new toy, for a while), and so on.
We probably ought to embrace the principle that data can only ever be used for the purpose it was gathered for, and nothing else. This seems, perhaps is rather draconian, but is the only way to be clear and honest about it, making it a better option than any of the alternatives.
You can vote cops out of office? Who Knew!?
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And, really, at this rate they'd just make it illegal for you to significantly alter your appearance without registering with the authorities.
Once the State decides it's they're right to watch everything you do, attempting to dodge that must clearly be a sign of bad intent. Clearly an honest person wouldn't be doing this.
Oddly enough, if we tried to pass a law that says everything an officer of the law does is to be recorded and made public, they'd be up in arms about their privacy.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
You may be thinking about George Bush’s REAL ID act. The US currently has over 50 different standards for photo id. The idea is to get to a single standard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REAL_ID_Act
I am on the fence with this. If we are going to have a ID card it should be useful. But I do want strong oversight so it won’t be abused.
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."
-Sinclair Lewis
The IRS targeting tea party organizations for scrutiny proves that abuse happens today and will continue to happen as long as law enforcement has access to private personal information. Think how many times in your life someone has been exonerated after spending years in jail for crimes they didn't commit. It is an outright lie for anyone to say personal private information will not be abused. It is being abused now and that will continue. No matter what the President says, your information is not safe or secure and you can easily become a completely innocent target.
Cops are hired by the Mayor, but Sheriffs are elected officials with jurisdiction over city police.
I think its fairly obvious the police know its not reliable.
Can you name even one CONVICTION where the only evidence was an automated photo match?
Can you name even one ARREST where the only basis was an automated photo match?
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That is why you can't wear glasses when you have your photo taken..
/me: looks at drivers licence and Passport Photo.
Notices glasses worn in both, and both are very recent.
Calls bullshit on you
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"I am on the fence with this. If we are going to have a ID card it should be useful. But I do want strong oversight so it won’t be abused." In that case 50 individuals is better then a unilateral decider.
Good-bye
You might be able to vote a Mayor or a Sheriff out of office.
But you can't vote a patrolman or a deputy or a detective out of office.
The top is replaceable. But largely powerless.
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Amazing how people seem to think that any of this is new and the outrage this is causing.
This, and other technology being recently being "outed" has been around since the early-mid 2000's. How do I know? I wrote a lot of it while working for a provider of software for public safety and law enforcement. It isn't secret - you can go to their website and read the features the software provides. Or, you can read any of the LE magazines out there to learn what the various public safety software providers are, in fact, providing to police departments across the country.
Facial recognition was still in its early evolution when we looked at it back in, I believe, 2005-2007. When I left in 2009, we still had not integrated facial recognition into our desktop software (and, we we a leading provider) - let alone mobile software - it just wasn't ready. Other vendors did provide OCR to work with cameras that could read a license plate into software that would then look up the license plate in NCIC and the local DMV. Some states allowed more judicious use when querying the DMV. But, access to NCIC and the criminal justice information systems required probable cause to conduct a search. Each query was logged and, if questioned, the person making the request better have had a valid reason to have conducted the search. A case in point - it is well known that Phila. Traffic and Parking Authority uses OCR scanning to looking up scofflaws by scanning the plates of parked vehicles. Are they hitting the DMV or just a parking violation database managed by the city? That, I am not sure.
However, whenever someone is/was arrested and booked, their images, prints, tattoo information, etc, was placed into our database - instantly searchable by keyword for the generation of a line up. Most photos weren't suitable for facial recognition back then. Traffic analysis is not new either. Our case management system would allow associations to be derived based on information reported in an incident report or booking report. By following the trail, other potential suspects could be quickly discovered. I can see how this capability could be used with phone call meta-data. Was it done? Maybe. But, if it did, it required a warrant.
As for facial recognition - it's possible that today's software is ready to process DMV photos. Some states were requiring that images pass certain checks (via software) before being allowed to be submitted into the system But, I am not sure they can, legally, request those images for retention on their local systems. If it's legal now (at least in PA), I would be highly surprised.
Perhaps, someone currently working in the field, could clarify the current state regarding access to NCIC, DMV and similar systems?
Do you really know what a merkin is?
The police arent supposed to be MINING for crime. They have quite enough on the surface they arent handling properly.
Good-bye
Varies state by state. Mine required me to take off my glasses. *shrug*
I don’t think that is the case here. Here is a question – what is the best way to avoid a strong tyrant?
One option is to make centralized government ineffective. That was America’s first choice with the Continental Congress. There are two problems with this. The first is that you have an ineffective government. The second is that people will always be looking for a way around the issue.
The second option – and the one I prefer, is to have a strong effective government with a small well defined domain and with strong independent oversight.
While we have 50 different states this does not mean we have 50 different individuals looking at what is happening – it means there is a hodge-podge of standards – and as any good programmer knows, if there is a hodge-podge of standards they can be hacked.
One state allows illegal immigrants to get driver’s license. Another uses consumer grade laser printers as a cost saving tool. Do any of them care, or know, when the FBI, NSA or the sheriff the county over does a drag on their data? When is it o.k. to pull a driver’s license? When the person is a suspect? What if the suspect is the hot girl next door? (There was a local case on this.)
Which is why I am on the fence about this, but leaning towards it. I like my privacy, but I suspect I would have more privacy if there were one standard and limit agencies to monitor instead of over 50.
States such the People's Republic of Massachusetts wants to put transponders in every car, ostensibly so they can tax you on the actual miles driven in the state, as if this was not bad enough, but you just know that it will be used against political enemies. There are microphones in most cities already...
Civics is not Programming and you pretty much lose any footing at that point. The entire reason we have 50 individual states is to enjoy variation in law. The Founding Fathers did not want to 'globalize' all of it, it only leads to abuse. On issues of civil rights, constitutionality, i like a strong Federal, but beyond that our law specifically leaves power to the States. I like things compartmentalized when it comes to ruling over 350 million humans. Its ok if a few people 'hack', its better then putting a boot to the neck of everyone.
Good-bye
Anyone here with a scuba, or pilots license? Does it have your address on it???
This sig is not paradoxical or ironic.
Washington state.
In Washington, and actually in most states, if your license says prescription lenses then you have to wear them
for your photo, othewise you have a choice. No glasses rules at all for Passports, other than no dark sunglasses.
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The problem is that, just like DNA, the police get lazy and simply round up everyone who matches. Those people can then eliminate themselves from the investigation by providing an alibi. Being arrested tends to look bad though, especially if you are arrested for something particularly nasty. The cops don't give a shit though, they just want an easy life and higher solved rate.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
They wouldn't need that unreliable facial recognition software if the state legislatures required a 2D bar code be tattooed on everyone's face at birth.
Imagine how much effort that would save.
Well, guys. You voted your politicians into office yourselves ;)
I didn't; I always vote Green or Libertarian, but not enough others value their civil liberties enough to join me.
Thank you, Edward Snowden.
"Arguments from authority are worthless." —Carl Sagan
Now this is what I have to consider if I want to apply for a driver's license? Choosing between the privilege of travelling and being a false positive in some FBI chase?
Travel is a right not a "privilege," governments' opinion to the contrary notwithstanding. Those propaganda posters in your local DMV are just that — propaganda. Free travel included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but considering how much weight even the Constitution has in this country, I don't expect the situation to change for the better.
Thank you, Edward Snowden.
"Arguments from authority are worthless." —Carl Sagan
Relevant...
https://www.nlets.org/mission-vision
Then read this...
http://psc.apcointl.org/2010/08/26/nlets-prism-transactions/
And is anyone surprised by this? I don't think so. It was the US that insisted on all passports having biometric information for face recognition already on everyones passport.
Passport. You know? that thing you need to travel into countries other than Canada. Yes there ARE other countries somewhere out there. But I guess as most US citizens won't need one, that's the reason why they're mining driver's licencse photo databases.
Do those photos also be ready for biometric recognition as the ones in the passports?
bickerdyke
Seattle, Washington and Washington, District of Columbia were the two cities with live tests of Trapwire.
Trapwire of course relies on facial recognition and other recognition. Seattle, Washington is in the same State of Washington that is mentioned in the posting title as being data-mined for faces from drivers' licenses and IDs.
Really? Where do you live where this is the practice?
Doesn't happen around here. There is no "rounding up". In fact they go out of their way not to round up anyone unless they
have some pretty solid leads. False arrest suits are expensive. If they don't have enough for a warrant they would
be pretty stupid to drag everyone in for questioning.
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Cops are hired by the Mayor, but Sheriffs are elected officials with jurisdiction over city police.
You've never heard of Civil Service and Police Unions?
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
I suspect I would have more privacy if there were one standard and limit agencies to monitor
Like the NSA?
It never goes back in. No wonder the young people are giving up driving.
Illegal Aliens can't get a drivers license... so they are safe from these photo searches...
Except no. Google "illegal immigrant driver's license" and see that 8 states already allow it and CA already has a bill filed.
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
I don't understand the problem. So they run a picture through their software, for example from a CCTV camera. It brings up your face as a false positive. Now before the police come and arrest you (and any one else who was flagged, despite only one of them committing the crime) Someone will look at the pictures and say: 'Oh that's not the same guy. Lets look again.'
Assuming you don't have a doppelganger. Out of the 308M people in this country, you don't think that there are at least one or two who look very, very similar to you? Maybe it wouldn't fool your own mother, but I doubt that's who'd come to arrest you.
Is what will they decide is a crime in the future and use this on you. Perhaps internet comments. It is looking like technology may well be what doomed us.
Why not require a warrant to search the databases? I'm skeptical that this tool is going to be all that useful, but of course LE will always trot out success stories, like in the article. Maybe they'll solve an extra 10 crimes per year, out of how many? It's probably insignificant, but people will still call for its use because it solved one murder last year. So fine, allow the databases to searched if a judge issues a warrant. If they're going to use this on something serious like a major felony, then getting a warrant should be no big deal. At least it would stop the sort of harassment described in the article where a LEO, using his infinitely wise discretion, decides that someone "looks suspicious", and "asks" to take his picture.
All Your Face Are Belong to Us.
Sorry, It had to be said.
oh, nevermind.
Or they let it happen so they could justify obtaining even more power to instititutionalize their reign.