Government ID, Smart Cards, Identification and Authentication

California DMV request for fast-tracked biometric approval blocked

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The California State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) had its recent proposal for a five-year contract for a facial recognition system valued at $63 million blocked by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, according to a Mercury News article. Since the proposal was blocked, it must now face public scrutiny at a hearing. Governor Schwarzenegger was trying to pass the proposal without public hearings.

The new system had previously met objection from a few various state senators as well as many privacy advocates. The overarching fear by the opponents of the proposition would be that police could gain access to the database of images and use their own pictures to track individuals in public.

Read the full story here [end] 

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