The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have reportedly been using driver’s license photos to build a facial-recognition database without the license holders’ knowledge or consent.
The Washington Post reports the two agencies have used millions of Americans’ photos largely from driver’s licenses to accumulate the facial recognition databases, 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.
