Smiling in license photos is a no-no
Don’t smile, please — that’s what New Jersey residents are hearing these days when they go to get a driver’s license, due to a new policy that has gone mostly unnoticed since taking effect in January. The rule discouraging smiles is designed to protect new face-recognition software, according to the Philadelphia Daily News.
The state installed the new system for driver’s license photos to help prevent identity theft. The software flags possible fraud schemes, such as when the photo of someone applying for a new license matches another picture under a different name.
The problem, though, is that exaggerated facial expressions — like a big smile — confuse the computer. “To get an accurate photo, you don’t want an excessively expressive face in the photo,” a spokesman for the state Motor Vehicle Commission told the Daily News.
Read the entire story in American City & County, our sister publication.
