Does FBI and ICE's use of driver's license photos for facial recognition lead to privacy breaches?

Whether the public has noticed or not, cities and businesses have been moving away from using facial recognition technology, but federal agencies are moving more aggressively toward it. 

Researchers at Georgetown University Law School and The Washington Post found that the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been using state DMV photos as facial recognition databases. These agencies have scanned hundreds of millions of photos and built an unofficial surveillance infrastructure. FBI and ICE agents often use this information to track suspects in "low-level crimes" such as theft, and these agencies use this data very frequently - the FBI alone conducts 4,000 facial recognition searches per month.

A total of 21 states allow the FBI and ICE to do this, including Pennsylvania and Texas. They set certain data access rules, but the requirements are not strict. Washington state requires a court order.

Therefore, these data search requests do not require much permission, and federal agencies are not responsible for them. It is not clear who the search targets are and the proportion of false positives, let alone whether these intelligence officers are using these facial data responsibly. Some search requests only require sending an email. This practice has raised social concerns about privacy. Clare Garvie of Georgetown University Law School said that this move betrayed the trust of undocumented immigrants in the state (in some states, these immigrants can drive cars).

ICE is reluctant to disclose how the agency conducts facial recognition. However, Kimberly Del Greco, deputy assistant director of the FBI for criminal justice information, has defended facial recognition technology, saying that the technology protects the "freedom and security" of citizens. But this is not necessarily the case. Wrong abuse of power may lead to the arrest of some innocent people. In addition, without a sound legal framework to ensure the transparency and legality of data requests, abuse cannot be curbed.