Regional Interests

ODOT Says It Doesn't Run Photos For Law Enforcement Through Facial Recognition Software

Oregon Public Broadcasting | By Conrad Wilson

Published July 9, 2019 at 12:20 PM PDT

<p>In this Nov. 16, 2018, file photo, an officer watches as immigrants who entered the United States illegally are deported on a flight to El Salvador by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Houston. Civil rights activists complained Monday of the potential for widespread abuse following confirmation that states have scanned millions of driver's license photos on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials without the drivers’ knowledge or consent.</p> — In this Nov. 16, 2018, file photo, an officer watches as immigrants who entered the United States illegally are deported on a flight to El Salvador by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Houston. Civil rights activists complained Monday of the potential for widespread abuse following confirmation that states have scanned millions of driver's license photos on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials without the drivers’ knowledge or consent.

The Oregon Department of Transportation says it doesn’t run photos through its facial recognition system to help law enforcement agencies identify individuals.

However, agency spokesman David House said the Department of Motor Vehicles does provide individual photos to police outside the state, as well as federal law enforcement.

“Other law enforcement agencies can also qualify to request photos from Oregon DMV, including the FBI and other law enforcement agencies," he said. "We’re not aware of any direct requests by ICE with Oregon, but they would be eligible to request a photo.”

This week, The Washington Post reported that the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are using facial recognition software and state DMV databases to identify individuals without their knowledge.

The report noted Washington state has run photos for the federal law enforcement agencies in the past. But that state now says it requires a court order.

House said Oregon has never received a court order to run a photo through its database for law enforcement.

He said the state law only allows the agency to run photos through its facial recognition software when creating new licenses to prevent the same person from having more than one license or state ID under different names.