Do you have an honest face? You probably should hope so, based on a recently released Government Accountability Office report which notes that while the FBI has a comprehensive facial recognition database – it hasn’t adequately tested it. The FBI has put together its facial recognition database.
The GAO released a report this week, raising concerns about privacy as well as the effectiveness of the search process. There are, it seems, over 411 million photos in the database. Fifteen states currently allow the FBI access to driver’s license photos. Four of those states – Michigan, North Dakota, South Carolina and Utah – also allow the agency access to mug shots and corrections department photos. At least another 15 states are in negotiations with the Department of Justice.
Your Recognizable Face by be a Facial Recognition Problem
The GAO report includes six recommendations – all aimed at improving both the transparency and accuracy of the program. Three of the six recommendations from the GAO address issues around searching the database. Searches, in the view of the GAO, should be tested to ensure their accuracy, whether two results are desired or two hundred. Small candidate list sizes (between 2 and 50 photos) have not been vetted and may not produce the desired results. In addition, such searches often do not reveal that there are “almost” matches which, in fact, may contain the individual being searched for.
The GAO is also concerned about the rate of false positives. No one who has not committed a crime should have local, state or federal law enforcement at their door at 3 am because they “looked” like a wanted criminal to a computer program. “You look familiar?” “No, I don’t!”
The photo on your driver’s license is unlikely to be the best photo ever taken of you. Do you really want that picture to be the basis for the next SWAT raid or manhunt by U.S. Marshals?
