FBI using facial-recognition technology to find suspects
RALEIGH, N.C. -- It could be an effective -- and controversial -- way to search for suspects.
The FBI has begun using face-recognition technology to help locate people suspected of crimes.
The source of the faces -- the photos taken when people get their driver's license. The project in North Carolina has already helped arrest at least one suspect.
Authorities took a booking photo of the suspect and compared it with 30 million photos stored by North Carolina's motor vehicle department, located in Raleigh.
The search was narrowed using the technology and eventually an analyst found one that looked like the suspect, who had taken on an assumed name and new life in North Carolina.
Privacy advocates say the method lets authorities track people who have done no wrong.
One attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union says the process basically means everybody who gets a driver's license is taking part "in a virtual lineup."
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
