No Smiles At NJ Motor Vehicle Commission

Reader Presto Vivace blesses us with news that the state of New Jersey "has banned motorists from making big smiles [for their license pictures] because such expressions don't work with facial recognition software." Now that passports are by decree grim and glasses-free, I'm expecting the next phase to involve the banning of facial hair, lips, and any hair that blocks the ears.

No smiles in Ohio

[Geoffrey.landis]

That's not new. No smiles in Ohio, either-- I renewed my license over a year ago, and was quite firmly instructed that smiles were not allowed in drivers license photos because it screws up the facial recognition software.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10249834-71.html [cnet.com]
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/05/27/states-adopting-no-smiles-policy-for-drivers-licenses/ [autoblog.com]
http://www.webanswers.com/legal/why-can-t-you-smile-in-your-drivers-license-picture-84ffba [webanswers.com]

Glasses free?

[Anubis IV]

Now that passports are by decree grim and glasses-free

Yeah...no. That's simply untrue. I went into the post office to get my passport photo taken last month and they didn't have me remove my glasses, nor did the Department of State seem to have any issues with my wearing them in my photo, since I just received my new passport last week.

I think I read that there are some rules against a few particular types of glasses that obscure too much of the face (e.g. chunky frames), but they had no issues with my standard looking thin frames.

Re:Smile!

[DanTheStone]

The facial recognition software isn't really to compare with your photos in public, it's primarily so that can check within the system whether you're getting licenses issued for yourself under different names.

Evidence:
http://www.publicopiniononline.com/latestnews/ci_21247064/penndot-computer-catches-fake-id-attempt [publicopiniononline.com]
http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/facial-recognition-software-used-by-dot/article_dd7d0f7e-dcde-11e1-a6a0-001a4bcf887a.html [bismarcktribune.com]

Re:Smile!

[DanTheStone]

Apparently the first link is broken now, but here's some text that was there: "A man has been charged with trying to get an identification card from the Pennsylvania DOT under a name not his own. PennDOT's facial recognition computer program discovered the discrepancy. Jose Alejandro Velazquez-Rodriguez, 29, was charged with tampering with public records or information. He attempted to get a Pennsylvania identification card with the name of Steven Huerta sometime between July 16 and 27 at the DMV office in Gettysburg."