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Drivers license renewal: Four states ban smiles in drivers license photos
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Drivers licenses with smiles like this
will be banned (AP Photo)
Four states have literally banned smiling for drivers license photos. In Arkansas, Indiana, Nevada, and Virginia, drivers are now required to have "neutral face expressions" when having their photo taken for both drivers license renewal and initial registration.
If it sounds like big brother mandating no happiness, there is actually a rationale. Some experts claim that sophisticated technology for face recognition is not yet sophisticated enough to realize that a person smiling is the same as person not smiling. They say that the distortion of a person's smile in a drivers license photo will not result in a computer match for the same person without a smile.
Since legislating that all people smile might be a facial stretch, the new laws instead prohibit smiling when you go to renew your drivers license. Still, one has to ask if this isn't somehow the beginning of machines dictating our behavior.
According to an informative article on the topic in USA Today the other day, Karen Chappell, deputy commissioner of the Virginia DMV commented that dull expressions "make the comparison process more accurate." Virginia's no-smile policy just took effect this March. According to the article:
A total of 31 states do computerized matching of driver's license photos and three others are considering it, says the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. Most say their software matches faces regardless of expressions. 'People can smile here in Pennsylvania,' state Transportation Department spokesman Craig Yetter says.
You may or may not be aware that a popular and very fun video dealt with exactly this topic even before Virginia and other states enacted this unusual legislation. "Validation" presents a fun and engaging story of love and – believe it or not – prohibiting smiles in drivers license photos. This 16-minute clip is guaranteed to make you smile ;o)
For lots of other fun and inspiring video clips, click here. We also invite you to comment below and let us know what you think. Is legislation banning smiles in drivers license photos taking things too far?
Fred Burks served as personal language interpreter to Clinton, Bush, Cheney, Gore, and other top dignitaries in secret meetings. As part of an international network of researchers and news analysts, Fred obtains and disseminates key, reliable information about powerful, yet little-known forces which shape our world. For more, see articles and links in the right column of this page.
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