DMV is about ready to start their face identification program for when you renew your drivers license. Upon taking your photo, the computer will digitally compare your photo with your previous photo to verify a match and then compare it against millions of other license photos for possible match also. This has brought criticism from Albany Democrat Herald [1]who states:
You may have noticed that people come in certain types. Many young women, for example, using the same makeup tips on how to achieve the most fashionable look, end up with faces that look kind of the same. So, they can expect a visit from the cops every time they renew their licenses while they still retain their youthful looks.
There’s a more sinister aspect, too. As long as we have a reasonably free country and a government more or less working on democratic principles, there may be nothing wrong with having digital images of every adult in some state or private database. But looking ahead a few decades, what if our political and social situation changes very much for the worse? Then the government will have a way to recognize and keep track of you wherever you go. That might be the end of crime, but it would be the end of freedom too.
Is this good-crime-fighting government? Or more overreaching big brother?