back to article Ohio state's top legal eagle just made it harder for the FBI, ICE, cops to snoop around its DMV DB for people's faces

The Attorney General of Ohio has banned cops and the Feds from accessing the US state's database of drivers' license plates and faces until the officers and g-men receive adequate privacy compliance training. “I share the privacy and civil-liberty concerns of those who fear misuse of this powerful identification technology,” …

  1. bob, mon!
    Thumb Up

    Wow - I wouldn't have expected Ohio to stand up for privacy in opposition to surveillance. It's a fairly conservative midwestern state, overall.

    1. JassMan
      Trollface

      I am just as shocked that someone in a position of authority is standing up for the man in the street. How long before the orange one issues an executive order to havw him removed?

      1. DontFeedTheTrolls
        Black Helicopters

        He doesn't issue Executive Orders for removing people these days, its all done by Private order ...

    2. Wellyboot Silver badge

      Not too surprised..

      The traditional conservative outlook is 'I'm getting on with my life, your business is none of my business when it doesn't affect me'

      Using software to search through the entire 'Innocent until proven guilty population' is just a fishing trip with 'Think of the children' as a poor excuse for not slimming the search parameters with actual detective work - with the added problem of blind trust in automation.

      1. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

        Re: Not too surprised..

        The traditional conservative outlook is 'I'm getting on with my life, your business is none of my business when it doesn't affect me'

        A lovely idea, but it has nothing to do with "conservative" as it applies to Ohio. This is the state that gave us Simon Leis, after all; and that was in Hamilton County (Cincinnati), generally one of the less-reactionary parts of Ohio. The state with the infamous abusive mayor's courts. A state that went to much trouble to purge voter roles of voters the incumbents deemed undesirable, using the despicable "use it or lose it" tactic, and engaged in other voter suppression such as the notorious HB 194.

  2. TXITMAN

    Training

    Training on our individual rights would be a good start.

    The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

    1. stiine Silver badge
      Facepalm

      Re: Training

      Hmmm....That seems like a rather basic right. [sarc]I wonder what document its in?[/sarc]

  3. Nick Kew
    Stop

    False Equivalence

    Please stop it.

    The headline kind-of makes a false equivalence between tracking individuals (faces) and number plates. As if vehicles deserved the same rights as people!

    The article text makes it clear it's about training, which is (hopefully) more sensible and proportionate on the subject. But you might miss that if you haven't contemplated your car's very own "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: False Equivalence

      You are misunderstanding, I think. The database contains images of drivers faces, linked to vehicle registrations. Searches on a vehicle registration will return those images.

      The State has noted that many of these searches are carried out without a warrant, and is therefore limiting access to the database until such time as law-enforcement agencies are given training in the proper use of the database.

      1. Nick Kew

        Re: False Equivalence

        I think you are misunderstanding my comment.

        My gripe was with the article headline. Not the story.

  4. Mookster
    Big Brother

    There are searches, and then there are searches. 1:N search of a face against the DMV would require the DMV to be using an ABIS system, which only has one purpose. The article tries to imply this, but....

    1. stiine Silver badge
      Black Helicopters

      In the US, in order for States to continue to receive federal funding (of which types, I don't know) the DMV databases have to be in the same format, i.e. searchable by the fucking Feds. I personally think that the abuse of the Interstate Commerce Clause needs to be reigned in.

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