Posted on 07/18/2011 1:25:41 PM PDT by lbryce
John H. Gass hadnt had a traffic ticket in years, so the Natick resident was surprised this spring when he received a letter from the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles informing him to cease driving because his license had been revoked.
I was shocked, Gass said in a recent interview. As far as I was concerned, I had done nothing wrong.
After frantic calls and a hearing with Registry officials, Gass learned the problem: An antiterrorism computerized facial recognition system that scans a database of millions of state drivers license images had picked his as a possible fraud.
It turned out Gass was flagged because he looks like another driver, not because his image was being used to create a fake identity. His driving privileges were returned but, he alleges in a lawsuit, only after 10 days of bureaucratic wrangling to prove he is who he says he is.
And apparently, he has company. Last year, the facial recognition system picked out more than 1,000 cases that resulted in State Police investigations, officials say. And some of those people are guilty of nothing more than looking like someone else. Not all go through the long process that Gass says he endured, but each must visit the Registry with proof of their identity.
We send out 1,500 suspension letters every day, said Registrar Rachel Kaprielian, who says the system has been a powerful weapon to fight identity fraud since it was installed in 2006 but that it is not without problems. There are mistakes that can be made.
Neither the Registry nor State Police keep tabs on the number of people wrongly tagged by the system. But Gass estimates in his lawsuit that hundreds might have received revocation notices in error since the system was installed.
(Excerpt) Read more at articles.boston.com ...
g’luck with that, homeboy.
Why don’t they just ask the crooked DPS workers who sell falsified driver’s licenses to people just which ones are fake?
There is a lesson to be learned here: ALWAYS wear your Groucho Marx nose/moustache/glasses when driving in Massachusetts...
Guilty until proven innocent, eh?
With this police state, it's always a "privilege" if it's for citizens, but about "civil rights" for illegal immigrants.
"We send out 1,500 suspension letters every day, said Registrar Rachel Kaprielian, who says the system has been a powerful weapon to fight identity fraud since it was installed in 2006 but that it is not without problems. There are mistakes that can be made.I have to wonder exactly what the numbers show. How many people involved in identity theft are actually caught using this technology and how much of what he claims is BS.
Yeah, and the people guilty of that go to jail. Do you really want to continue that comparison, Ms. Kaprielian?
>>Yeah, and the people guilty of (identity theft) go to jail.<<
Not always. I’ve long had someone using my SSN to work under and I can’t get anyone to do anything about it because they all say it isn’t a crime against me to steal my identity. So I struck back by finding the bank accounts that were under my name and claiming the funds and closing the accounts. It was the easiest $19,800.00 I ever made and, best of all, according to the law, it’s all mine.
Mistakes were made?
So who pays for screwing up?
Did you pay taxes on your “ill-gotten” gains?
Well, at least Helen Thomas doesn’t have to worry.
Expect a visit from a SWAT team, however.
Since the 1950s, we have become a nation of roads. Without being allowed to use these roads or borrowing someone Else's “privilege”, many things are impossible for a huge percentage of the USA.
It's not like we only use cars for shows and joyrides. In many places, you must drive for employment and even food.
I think the lesson here is that if you give the State the power to regulate and license people, you give that power away at great peril.
“Did you pay taxes on your ill-gotten gains?”
That was the beauty of the thing. The person who was impersonating me did. When tax time came I received ‘my’ W-2 forms and filed and got quite a nice refund from their witholding.
I figured if no one wanted to help me then I’d at least strike back at the criminal by taking what was arguably mine anyway. I’ve since changed my SSN (which was not easy!) and my last name has since changed, as well. Also, I spent $30 and froze my credit reports with all three reporting agencies and that had the nice side effect of ending all of that preapproved credit card junk mail.
priv·i·lege (prv-lj, prvlj)
n.
1.
a. A special advantage, immunity, permission, right, or benefit granted to or enjoyed by an individual, class, or caste. See Synonyms at right.
b. Such an advantage, immunity, or right held as a prerogative of status or rank, and exercised to the exclusion or detriment of others.
2. The principle of granting and maintaining a special right or immunity: a society based on privilege.
g’luck with that, homeboy.
Cool. Sometimes a plan just comes together.
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