The use of biometric technology isn’t new or novel to many of us – we will provide our fingerprints for access control and identification at least once in our lives. Not all biometrics are as ubiquitous as the fingerprint, however. Another form of biometrics, facial recognition software, used by DMVs in the state of Illinois, has helped the state drastically cut down on one of its most infamous problems – drivers license fraud.

lllinois DMVs have been using facial recognition software since 1997, which measures facial geometry of license holders and then correlates it to their personal information in a database. How does this help fraud? The extra data points from facial geography make it easy to find copied drivers licenses by allowing investigators and DMV employees to search not only for duplicate names, but duplicate photos as well.
Illinois’ efficient and novel program for eliminating fraud has spread to over ten other states, and its efficiency is being considered by the country’s largest system of DMVs – in California.