This archive report was first published on 13 July 2019.
Documents obtained through public records requests by Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy and Technology have revealed a shocking practice by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials.
Between 2014 and 2017, ICE officials used facial recognition technology to mine databases of state driver's license, analyzing photos of millions of motorists without their knowledge, according to the New York Times (July 13, 2019).
The records show that ICE officials requested access to state repositories of license photos in at least three states that offer driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants: Utah, Vermont, and Washington.
Two of those states, Utah and Vermont, allowed ICE officials to comb through their photos for matches, while in Washington, administrative subpoenas granted approval for a facial recognition scan of all images of license applicants.
Speaking to the New York Times, privacy expert Harrison Rudolph called the practice a 'scandal' and said it was an 'illegal practice that should be stopped.'
“This is a scandal. States have never passed laws authorizing ICE to dive into driver’s license databases using facial recognition to look for folks,” Rudolph said.
He added: “These states have never told undocumented people that when they apply for a driver’s license they are also turning over their face to ICE. That is a huge bait and switch.”
It is unclear whether these states still approve ICE's requests, but the Georgetown researchers' documents covered the period between 2014 and 2017.
Responding to the allegations, Amy Tatko, a Vermont Agency of Transportation official, said the use of facial recognition technology by the agency was stopped in 2017 on orders of current Governor Phil Scott.
ICE spokesperson Matt Bourke declined to comment on the agency's investigative techniques, citing law-enforcement sensitivities.
