Police in Ohio admit facial recognition used to scour state driver’s license database without public knowledge

RT - For nearly three months, law enforcement in Ohio have had access to an unregulated facial recognition database that includes all statewide driver’s license photos and mug shots, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported Monday.

The system was live for two weeks before Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and his chief operating officer found out. At that point, DeWine and other state officials debated in what capacity the database was operating -- in a “testing” phase or as a full launch -- and whether to even tell the public about the database’s existence.

The state’s system, new in early June, has been subject to 2,700 searches by law enforcement thus far. The database matches images, in many cases gleaned from security cameras, to state photos via driver’s licenses, mug shots and other official photos.

The Enquirer reported Cincinnati alone has access to 118 official security cameras around the city, with hopes of pushing that number to 1,000 by 2014. Hundreds more owned by private entities are routinely made available to law enforcement, marking an ever-pervasive surveillance culture with use of enhanced technology like facial recognition software.    More   PTG