A task force studying the use of facial recognition for law enforcement found no wrongdoing in the way the state was handling that system. And an upgrade and expansion of the system is now likely.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost says law enforcement already has access to driver’s licenses photos. But he says they aren’t good quality, so he wants the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to turn over new ones. Yost says drivers voluntarily agreed to that when they got a driver’s license.
“They need to weigh their concerns against that reality. Everything is a tradeoff," Yost says.
But Yost says safeguards will be taken to make sure the facial recognition database is not misused.
“This is no substitute for police work. Facial recognition technology is a tool to develop leads. It is the beginning of the investigatory process. It is not the conclusion of it. Nobody in Ohio should ever be arrested and charged based on a match or a potential match from facial recognition," Yost says.
Yost says his office is in the process of evaluating recommendations made by the task force to protect against misuse of the system and will likely incorporate some of them.
Copyright 2020 The Statehouse News Bureau
