Four states adopt 'no-smiles' policy for driver's licenses

[RamboLiberal]

Source: USA Today

Stopping driver's license fraud is no laughing matter: Four states are ordering people to wipe the grins off their faces in their license photos.

"Neutral facial expressions" are required at departments of motor vehicles (DMVs) in Arkansas, Indiana, Nevada and Virginia. That means you can't smile, or smile very much. Other states may follow.

The serious poses are urged by DMVs that have installed high-tech software that compares a new license photo with others that have already been shot. When a new photo seems to match an existing one, the software sends alarms that someone may be trying to assume another driver's identity.

But there's a wrinkle in the technology: a person's grin. Face-recognition software can fail to match two photos of the same person if facial expressions differ in each photo, says Carnegie Mellon University robotics professor Takeo Kanade.



Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-05-25-licenses...

[Demeter]

1. I Hate Smiling for Photos, Anyway

[blue_onyx]

2. I look so angry when I don't smile

but the article says "slight smiles" are acceptable.

[a la izquierda]

4. My passport photo looks like a mugshot...

they told me not to smile, so I didn't. And I didn't have makeup on, so in February, I looked like a pasty criminal. It breaks the ice with the Fatherland security folks at the airport.

[paulsby]

11. that's called 'doing the mona lisa'

or at least should be

[Enrique]

3. they'll have to find a way to make the DMV an unpleasant place

make sure no one's happy there.

[teknomanzer]

24. Have you been to the DMV?

[saigon68]

25. Like being booked into a jail

A more unfriendly place could never be found

[Gormy Cuss]

5. Some states are also requiring that people remove eyeglasses for the same reason.

Asinine low tech software.

[damntexdem]

7. OK, just so long as they also remove them while driving.

Otherwise, when a cop stops you, how will s/he know that you're the person with the picture on the license.

[damntexdem]

6. Already that way on passport ID photos.

But I want to know about the state laws requiring the use of the most-idiotic photo possible on the DL.

[superconnected]

8. I prefer to smile very wide. It's because I've never seen a picture of someone smiling that wasn't

beautiful.

[mascarax]

9. Huh?

This statement is way too generic (sure, algorighms can fail): <<Face-recognition software can fail to match two photos of the same person if facial expressions differ in each photo>>

If the damn photos were the same - or nearly the same, then facial recognition technology would be utterly pointless (smile or no). It depends on the algorithm(s) used.

[bertman]

10. Is it okay to leer?

[ohio2007]

13. Is it OK to invoke fear in the eyes of the beholder when being carded ?

Arkansas, Indiana, Nevada and Virginia are losers

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

12. I always end up looking like a stoned biker

And they can kiss my rosy red if they think they're gonna try making me shave my beard...

[Arkana]

14. My driver's license makes me look like an Iranian terrorist.

I'm Italian.

[MilesColtrane]

15. Nice to know when I'm on the lam from Big Brother.

All I have to do to avoid detection is grin like an idiot.

[bluedigger]

16. I like the way you think!

[Robbien]

29. That's what I was thinking

If one is going to commit a crime, they should just grin like a grinning monkey to foil any attempts at getting caught by facial recognition programs.

[jberryhill]

17. I grew a beard since my last driver's license photo

I guess beards and mustaches or absence thereof is also going to be required to be permanent.

[Downwinder]

18. When are they going to tattoo our DNA number on our forearm?

[MrSlayer]

19. I put on my best gangsta "Mad Dog" stare for pictures anyway.

If you smile people think you're a punk.

[tabbycat31]

20. that is insane

I'm sorry but I smiled in my DL photo. Why should i have a photo that looks like it's out of a police lineup?

[Posteritatis]

21. The solution is to give the Spock Eyebrow to the camera

What?

Spock's emotionally neutral...

[undeterred]

22. So now that the economy sucks so badly, is this really a problem?

[Endangered Specie]

23. No worry, after going through the DMV, I'm not exactly in a smiling mood anyway.

[Butch350]

26. Drivers license?

We don't need no stinken driver license.

[Javaman]

27. easier to use as a mug shot. nt

[DebbieCDC]

28. Jesus H. Christ what next?