Facial recognition searches by police on passport and immigration databases have surged significantly, from 2 to 417 searches on the passport database and from 16 to 102 on the immigration database. These actions involve over 150 million public photos without clear legal justification or public awareness. Privacy advocates are demanding a halt to these practices, citing the creation of a vast police database from passport images. Current policies do not adequately regulate the use of such technology, leaving individuals vulnerable to unwarranted surveillance.
"Our passports have been secretly turned into mugshots. The government has taken all of our passport photos and secretly turned them into mugshots to build a giant, Orwellian police database."
"There are currently no public policies meaningfully constraining such use. There is no requirement that police officers have reasonable grounds for suspecting that people they seek to identify have committed any crime, less still serious criminal offences."
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