FBI, ICE reportedly using driver’s license photos for facial recognition

The FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have reportedly been using driver’s license photos for facial recognition searches without license holders’ knowledge or consent.

The Washington Post reports the two agencies have used millions of Americans’ photos, largely from driver’s licenses, for the purpose of facial recognition searches, citing internal documents and emails from the two agencies that were obtained by Georgetown Law researchers over the past five years and shared with the news outlet.

The photos give the agencies a new layer of information on Americans and a new tool to potentially track both criminals and those who have never committed a crime, according to the Post, which adds that Congress has not authorized any such development of a facial recognition system.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle expressed their dismay over reports that the federal agencies were using driver’s license photos.

“Law enforcement’s access of state databases,” particularly DMV databases, is “often done in the shadows with no consent,” House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) told the Post in a statement.

Last month at a hearing regarding facial recognition technology, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, said Americans have not given consent to use their photos for facial recognition searches.