ALBANY — It’s going to get harder to use a fake ID in New York, as the DMV has rolled out improved facial recognition software that can detect subtle scars, hairstyles and glasses to keep people from getting bogus licenses.
The upgrade will beef up a program that the Department of Motor Vehicles has been using since 2010 to prevent terrorists, criminals and just plain lousy drivers from getting IDs that they could use to skirt the law.
The old technology led to the arrests of 1,200 people who tried to obtain fake licenses last year.
And since 2010, more than 3,600 people have been busted for having duplicate licenses. Another 10,500 have been fined or lost their licenses for fraud.
“New York has quickly become a national leader in implementing this technology, and we will continue to raise the bar to ensure safer and more secure communities statewide,” Gov. Cuomo said.
The upgrade doubles the system’s capability to match points on a subject’s face from 64 points to 128. New Jersey recently upgraded and Connecticut is in the process of doing so.