The "new" facial recognition software at your local DMV.
If you don't have it yet, I bet you will soon. After going through all of the wonderfully glorious BS of obtaining a CDL, my last trip to the DMV Express, which was today, was the most surprising.
I am from Las Cruces NM, and today at the DMV I learned that before they even begin your paperwork, you have your picture taken first. The lady explained to me why this was after I asked her why the distance between my eyes was displayed on the screen after the picture.
First, they get your vital info: Phone number, Address, etc. Then they take your picture. If your face is matched by their computers, they are not allowed to finish processing your paperwork because they are blocked from doing so by the computer, and you will recieve a phone call or visit from the local FBI agents or local authorities. When she was allowed to finish my paperwork, she said, so I guess you haven't done anything illegal on camera, which made me think, "HOLY CRAP, everything that everyone has done on camera is stored in their computers somewhere."
This all comes with the introduction of the new Drivers License/ID card. Of course they got it passed by claiming that 1) It will protect New Mexicans from Identity theft, 2) keep fake licenses out of the hands of dangerous people(Hey, do Bush and Cheney have ID's) and 3) speed up the handling of DWI cases by supporting electronic citation processing(Shouldn't this be done with the computers at the police station and courthouse? How does the new license speed this up?)
My concern is this, what's going to stop the FBI, CIA, police, from abusing this? If you've gone to any rally or protest that was caught on camera, they now have your face, courtesy of the DMV, to match it with and can come knocking at will.
Have you ever seen the movie "Domino", about how the local and government authorities use the DMV as their central database? If it's true, then we're even deeper in $hit than I thought.
Keep your sunglasses on,
colburg
BTW, the camera concentrates on the "triangle of your face" when taking your picture. Three numerical measurements are taken or rated(that I saw). First, the distane between your eyes, then two numbers are assigned to describe your left and right facial features. The last number she told me was a percentage. There is a 99.8% chance that I don't match anyone else in the system. Even having a low percentage is cause for the authorities to pay you a visit. |
