Vermont DMV Caught Using Illegal Facial Recognition Program

[DamianTV]

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/17/05/24/213221/vermont-dmv-caught-using-illegal-facial-recognition-program


The Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles has been caught using facial recognition software -- despite a state law preventing it. Documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont describe such a program, which uses software to compare the DMV's database of names and driver's license photos with information with state and federal law enforcement. Vermont state law, however, specifically states that "The Department of Motor Vehicles shall not implement any procedures or processes that involve the use of biometric identifiers." The program, the ACLU says, invites state and federal agencies to submit photographs of persons of interest to the Vermont DMV, which it compares against its database of some 2.6 million Vermonters and shares potential matches. Since 2012, the agency has run at least 126 such searches on behalf of local police, the State Department, FBI, and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

Well, now that they have been busted, do you think there is ANY intention of them stopping? Anyone gonna be held accountable?

No. Fucks. Were. Given.

[Anti Federalist]

No. Fucks. Were. Given.

Not even here...no views, no comments, no fucks given.

Just another day in AmeriKa...

[Anti Federalist]

The program, the ACLU says, invites state and federal agencies to submit photographs of persons of interest to the Vermont DMV, which it compares against its database of some 2.6 million Vermonters

Wait...wut?

Vermont only has a population of about 625,000.

Who the fuck are the other two million people in this fucking database?

[Origanalist]

Not even here...no views, no comments, no fucks given.

Just another day in AmeriKa...

Speaking only for myself, its hardly a surprise when the government breaks 'the rules'. So ya, just another day in Amerika.

As long as they don't display a Confederate flag probably no one will give a shit.

[Anti Federalist]

Speaking only for myself, its hardly a surprise when the government breaks 'the rules'. So ya, just another day in Amerika.

As long as they don't display a Confederate flag probably no one will give a shit.

True.

We're all jaded and the rest don't care.

[DamianTV]

Wait...wut?

Vermont only has a population of about 625,000.

Who the fuck are the other two million people in this fucking database?

Illegal / Undocumented uh... (thinks DMV) Drivers? WTF is an Undocumented Driver?

[Slave Mentality]

True.

We're all jaded and the rest don't care.

My growing apathy even concerns me.

[ghengis86]

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/17/05/24/213221/vermont-dmv-caught-using-illegal-facial-recognition-program



Well, now that they have been busted, do you think there is ANY intention of them stopping? Anyone gonna be held accountable?

No. $#@!s. Were. Given.

So who is getting arrested and sent to jail for breaking this law?

[tod evans]

So who is getting arrested and sent to jail for breaking this law?

Riiiiiiiiight....

The DA is part-n-parcel of the kop-klan that perpetrated this crime.

Why would he/she charge members of their own team?

[Origanalist]

So who is getting arrested and sent to jail for breaking this law?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYTKD6NhrXc

[Cleaner44]

I think we all know that the government won't arrest government workers that break the law.

[oyarde]

Wait...wut?

Vermont only has a population of about 625,000.

Who the fuck are the other two million people in this fucking database?

Where do you just pick up another 2 million ? They have an airport there ?

[Wooden Indian]

My growing apathy even concerns me.

I used to be concerned about my apathy, but now I just don't care.

[Occam's Banana]

Wait...wut?

Vermont only has a population of about 625,000.

Who the fuck are the other two million people in this fucking database?

The database probably includes former residents, deceased residents, etc., going back some number of years - not just current living residents.

[Zippyjuan]

Vermont state law, however, specifically states that "The Department of Motor Vehicles shall not implement any procedures or processes that involve the use of biometric identifiers."

Even fingerprints are biometric identifiers. So is a photograph theoretically speaking. No pictures allowed on licenses? Biometric identifiers would also include a description of the person- height, weight, date of birth, eye color, hair color. These are also often found on licenses. Does this mean that their whole driver's license is illegal?

http://www.biometricsinstitute.org/pages/faq-16.html


16. Is a photo a Biometric?

A biometric is "A measurable physical characteristic or personal behavioural trait used to recognise the identity of an enrolee or verify a claimed identity."

You could also say: Bio -> life -> (living) individual or group Metric -> measure -> comparable for establishing identity of "biometric" refers to a characteristic that satisfies the two.
Face is then a biometric. Scars or tattoos can be if they are able to do the above. The same biometric can be in many forms - photographs, digital images.

It can also be transformed from raw -> features -> templates.
Provided the photograph has been captured in line with ISO 19794-5 then it is "a measurable physical characteristic" of a person, ergo it is.
But if it is a photograph of a house, a sillhouette of a person, a photograph of multiple people - then it would not pass the ISO 19794-5 tests, so it would not be.

Given that ISO-compliant hardcopy photos (and sometimes ones that aren't) can be scanned and uploaded to generate templates that work with facial matching systems, you'd have to say in that sense a photograph also is a biometric.

By our ISO 19794-5 definition, for the photo to be a biometric, there is an intent that the photo is captured for biometric matching purposes and QA checked against standards as part of that process, against a neutral background. So we'd argue that a passport style photo of a person taken at random at home would not be a biometric because it was not taken for biometric measurement purposes.

A biometric is any biological attribute that can be used for identification - hence strictly a photo qualifies, as does in fact a picture or video of any part of the body. However just because a selection of photos exists of employees for instance (ICAO compliant or not) this does not mean there is the capability or intention to do anything biometric with the photos.

In other words they could be called 'latent' biometrics - similar to a latent fingerprint that is left on a surface but that may not be used. Any clear photo of a person contains some biometric information - but if there is no intention to convert it to a template or match it against a facial gallery then I would say it is open to debate as to its status as a biometric in the technical or legal sense.

It's the purpose that counts. A driver licence authority that has photos stored for the purpose of identification (biometric) might be different from a human resources use or facebook style application ('latent' biometrics). For instance consider video libraries and TV stations or newspapers, they might be considered vast biometric repositories if any photo of a human qualified as a biometric. Obviously purpose can change - and so what was a 'latent' biometric might become an actual biometric with a change of usage.

[asurfaholic]

My growing apathy even concerns me.

I have no hope for people waking up.

[Anti Federalist]

Even fingerprints are biometric identifiers. So is a photograph theoretically speaking. No pictures allowed on licenses? Biometric identifiers would also include a description of the person- height, weight, date of birth, eye color, hair color. These are also often found on licenses. Does this mean that their whole driver's license is illegal?

http://www.biometricsinstitute.org/pages/faq-16.html

No.

Read "processes".

Of course, all those things are biometric identifiers.

What is illegal, and what the cops were doing, illegally, is using a process,

i.e.


Documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont describe such a program, which uses software to compare the DMV's database of names and driver's license photos with information with state and federal law enforcement.

...to identify and track people using those biometrics, in clear violation of law.

[NorthCarolinaLiberty]

[Usual contrarian posting]



It's said processes, not simply biometric identifiers.

If you were not so busy trying to be purposely contrarian, then maybe you would actually learn something.

Pay attention.

Neg rep.

[RJB]

Seriously Zip? I second NCL's response.