11:00 AM
Paul Bauer
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| (Photo credit: neilfein) |
Falling nicely into line, New Jersey's Motor Vehicle Commision has implemented a new rule for people getting their drivers licenses. Now you can no longer smile when getting your driver's license photo taken. This is because smiling interferes with new facial recognition software. From ABC News:
The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission has cracked down on drivers smiling in their driver’s license photos because their smiles could interfere with new facial recognition software.
New Jersey resident Velvet McNeil told the Philadelphia Inquirer Thursday that when she went to get her license at her local New Jersey motor vehicle center, she was told she could not smile for her photo. Shocked, McNeil said she walked out of the center.
Whether the New Jersey facial recognition system will be a part of the FBI's NGI system is unclear, but it's still kind of eerie to think that this is where our government is headed. A spokeswoman from the New Jersey MVC said that the facial recognition software will check the photos of New Jersey's 19 million faces to make sure each driver has only one driving record and the person getting their picture taken is who they say they are. We'll see if that is all it's used for.
Via Patch.com:
The law has actually been around since January. According to the report, it was put into place because of new face recognition software the state has implemented. The software can recognize licenses with identical faces, but with different names, helping to flag those attempting to commit fraud. But exaggerated expressions—and smiles—can help prevent the software from picking up the similarities.
Our freedom, and privacy from the Government is slowly being taken away. You should start to worry about this. Do you agree or disagree? Let us know in the comments.
