One advantage of being blind, you can't drive a car. But if you get a non
driver's license for ID purposes, I guess it's no advantage.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, July 09, 2019 4:17 PM
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] And I Thought 1984 Could Never Happen!
Ah, but I do miss the innocence of my youth. Those were the days when we
thought our biggest fear was contacting a case of the Clap. How little did we
know.
Carl Jarvis
Subject: [EXTERNAL] FBI, ICE Using Facial Recognition To Bulk-Scan DMV Photos
In "Unprecedented Surveillance Infrastructure" | Zero Hedge
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-07-08/fbi-ice-bulk-scanning-dmv-photos-facial-recognition-unprecedented-surveillance
FBI, ICE Using Facial Recognition To Bulk-Scan DMV Photos In "Unprecedented
Surveillance Infrastructure"
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) along with Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) has been using state driver's license databases to run photos
of millions of Americans through facial-recognition systems without their
knowledge or consent, according to the Washington Post.
inline-images/racial%20rec
block quote
Thousands of facial-recognition requests, internal documents and emails over
the past five years, obtained through public-records requests by Georgetown Law
researchers and provided to The Washington Post, reveal that federal
investigators have turned state departments of motor vehicles databases into
the bedrock of an unprecedented surveillance infrastructure.
Police have long had access to fingerprints, DNA and other “biometric data”
taken from criminal suspects. But the DMV records contain the photos of a vast
majority of a state’s residents, most of whom have never been charged with a
crime. - Washington Post block quote end
Disturbingly, neither Congress nor state legislatures have authorized this type
of system, and none of us agreed to it when we obtained licenses.
"They’ve just given access to that to the FBI," said Rep. Jim Jordan, ranking
GOP member of the House Oversight Committee. "No individual signed off on that
when they renewed their driver’s license, got their driver’s licenses. They
didn’t sign any waiver saying, ‘Oh, it’s okay to turn my information, my photo,
over to the FBI.’ No elected officials voted for that to happen."
"Law enforcement’s access of state databases," and in particular those of the
DMV, is "often done in the shadows with no consent," added House Oversight
Committee Chairman Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD).
And as has been reported for some time, law enforcement has been relying on
facial recognition technology as a routine investigative tool for years - and
it's going to get worse.
block quote
Since 2011, the FBI has logged more than 390,000 facial-recognition searches of
federal and local databases, including state DMV databases, the Government
Accountability Office said
last month, and the records show that federal investigators have forged daily
working relationships with DMV officials. In Utah, FBI and ICE agents logged
more than 1,000 facial-recognition searches between 2015 and 2017, the records
show. Names and other details are hidden, though dozens of the searches are
marked as having returned a “possible match.” - Washington Post block quote end
Also disturbing is the fact that law enforcement often uses facial recognition
to investigate low-level crime, with searches "often executed with nothing more
formal than an email from a federal agent to a local contact,"
according to the Post.
"It’s really a surveillance-first, ask-permission-later system," says Project
on Government Oversight watchdog lawyer Jake Laperruque.
"People think this
is something coming way off in the future, but these [facial-recognition]
searches are happening very frequently today. The FBI alone does 4,000 searches
every month, and a lot of them go through state DMVs."
Targeting illegals with licenses?
The Post also brings up the fact that undocumented residents who obtain
driver's licenses in states which allow this may be subject to immigration
enforcement due to the facial recognition technology.
block quote
Though Utah, Vermont and Washington allow undocumented immigrants to obtain
full driver’s licenses or more-limited permits known as driving privilege
cards, ICE agents have run facial-recognition searches on those DMV databases.
More than a dozen states, including New York, as well as the District of
Columbia, allow undocumented immigrants to drive legally with full licenses or
driving privilege cards, as long as they submit proof of in-state residency and
pass the states’ driving-proficiency tests.
Lawmakers in Florida, Texas and other states have introduced bills this year
that would extend driving privileges to undocumented immigrants. Some of those
states already allow the FBI to scan driver’s license photos, while others,
such as Florida and New York, are negotiating with the FBI over access,
according to the GAO. - Washington Post block quote end
"The state has told [undocumented immigrants], has encouraged them, to submit
that information. To me, it’s an insane breach of trust to then turn around and
allow ICE access to that," according to Georgetown Law Center on Privacy and
Technology senior associate Clare Garvie, who led the research.
block quote
The FBI’s facial-recognition search has access to local, state and federal
databases containing more than 641 million face photos, a GAO director said
last month. But the agency provides little information about when the searches
are used, who is targeted and how often searches return false matches. -
Washington Post block quote end
When asked about the surveillance, the FBI told the Post to refer to last
month's congressional testimony from Deputy Assistant Director Kimberly Del
Grecco, who said that facial recognition was necessary "to preserve our
nation’s freedoms, ensure our liberties are protected, and preserve our
security."
Racist technology?
Civil rights advocates have decried the use of facial recognition technology
due to the fact that it is far less accurate when trying to identify people of
color. According to the report, "The software’s precision is highly dependent
on a number of factors, including the lighting of a subject’s face and the
quality of the image, and research has shown that the technology performs less
accurately on people with darker skin."
Whatever the objection, we're now at the point where our ability to drive a car
or enjoy the out-of-doors is subject to constant electronic surveillance of
varying accuracy.