Why is No One Smiling in New Jersey, Arkansas, Indiana, Nevada, Virginia...
by William Becorest
In case you missed the sign, folks, there's no smiling allowed in New Jersey's Motor Vehicle Commission. At least that's the policy when taking a driver's license picture, and has been since 2009. Not the best PR move for a state with an unfair reputation for a grumpy citizenry. But the Garden State is not the only one; a handful of other states (including Arkansas, Indiana, Nevada, Iowa, and Virginia) have also gone sans smile.
The real culprint behind this policy is facial recognition technology, which works better with a neutral, closed-mouth portrait. Wide-mouth, happy grins? No good. The software uses algorithms of facial characteristics to compare driver's license or ID photos with other DMV images on file. Facial recognition experts say that differing expressions on the face of the same person can prevent the system from coming up with successful matches.
With more than 39 states now using this technology, could "smile-less" driver's licenses become a nationwide trend? Fortunately, most DMVs so far have not joined the no-smile bandwagon. According to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, most states are comfortable that their systems will match faces regardless of facial expressions. And critics are wondering why the technology is not more advanced, especially when considering that even Facebook seems to have a very good grasp of facial recognition, smile or no smile.
Why do we need it? It's hard to argue its effectiveness for fighting fraud. Here are just a few examples where facial recognition made a difference, as cited by Governing.com:
* In New York, a sanitation worker was charged with impersonating his dead twin brother and collecting more than $500,000 in disability benefits over 20 years.
*In Iowa, a fugitive who escaped from a North Carolina prison while serving time for armed robbery in the 1970s was identified when he tried to apply for a driver's license using another name.
*In New Jersey, a man was charged with using false identities to get two fraudulent commercial driver's licenses to drive trucks. His licenses had been suspended 64 times, including six times for DUI convictions.
