'Secret' facial biometrics being used to identify motorists and shoppers

According to a Newspaper article the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has secretly been spying on motorists.
  Three years ago the Virginia Dept. of Motor Vehicles allowed IIHS to 'secretly' record the vehicle identification number (VIN), age and sex information from the records of 65,000 vehicle owners.  IIHS compared this personal information against the facial photograph captured by the industry's speed cameras to conclude that vehicles "packing more horsepower" drive faster than the posted speed limit.
It's not a stretch of the imagination to believe the IIHS and the DMV identified passengers too.

Facial biometrics used to identify passengers and pedestrians
Though primarily intended for fixed security camera installations, the software could allow police to identify the occupants of vehicles when the system is supplied with a clear photograph of a car's interior. In states such as California and Arizona where red light cameras and speed cameras photograph the front of a car, the video stream can be analyzed in "near real time" to catalog and identify the driver and anyone in the passenger seat of passing vehicles, flagging "any person of interest."

Don't forget, the DEA's highway surveillance cameras are also tracking everyone.

The DEA has gathered as many as 343 million records in the National License Plate Recognition program, which connects DEA license plate readers with those of other law enforcement agencies around the country.

With its jurisdiction and its finances, the federal government is uniquely positioned to create a centralized repository of all drivers’ movements across the country — and the DEA seems to be moving toward doing just that. For more information about the DEA's highway cameras click here & here.

Police can identify people through fog

"San Francisco’s public transit agency plans to purchase up to 150 cameras marketed for their ability to find and focus on human faces, although city officials insist the devices will monitor only traffic — not people."

"The Municipal Transportation Agency is seeking a vendor that will sell cameras equipped with “face detection” technology, according to bidding documents posted online. Those cameras will scan streets from traffic-light poles..."

Samsung's, 'Wisenet III' cameras can identify people through fog. Surveillance cameras can even identify people in low light, click here to see Bosch's Starlight surveillance cameras.

Last year, I warned everyone that surveillance cameras can track multiple people using 'activity recognition.'

"We present a multi-target tracking system that is designed specifically for the provision of stable and accurate head location estimates. By performing data association over a sliding window of frames, we are able to correct many data association errors and fill in gaps where observations are missed." 

Why did the IIHS use facial biometrics to identify motorists?

"Why precisely the insurance industry advocates felt the need to capture facial images of drivers and compare that to personal data in DMV records is a mystery," NMA president Gary Biller told TheNewspaper. "Identifying drivers isn't germane to the horsepower versus speed question."

If you guessed DHS had something to do with it, give yourself a gold star.

According to an NHTSA March 2016, article. Adrian K. Lund, Ph.D., president of the IIHS also served as the Secret Service's liaison to DHS. (the only way to find this information is to search for 'Adrian Lund Secret Service liaison')

The IIHS is also behind the push to have automated speed enforcement and alcohol ignition interlocks installed in every vehicle, they're also responsible for red light camera legislation and much more.

According to the Newspaper article, the IIHS is also the leading proponent of a return to the national 55 MPH speed limit. Fyi, the IIHS has a vested financial interest in a national 55MPH speed limit.

The IIHS is both the research and the public relations arm of the insurance industry, funded by all of the major insurance firms, including AAA, Allstate, Geico, Progressive State Farm and USAA.

To answer Mr. Biller's question, the IIHS appears to be a government agency (DHS) masquerading as an independent, nonprofit scientific and educational organization.

Retail stores are also secretly recording everyone's facial biometrics.

Retail stores secretly use facial recognition to spy on everyone

Recently Walmart and Home Depot have been caught using facial recognition cameras to identify customers.

Target and CVS are also considering using facial recognition to spy on customers.

If you went to Minneapolis to Target’s command center, you’d be blown away,’’ said Kevin Plante, chairman of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts Loss Prevention Committee and manager of US retail loss prevention operations at Staples in Framingham. “It’s the Mecca of loss prevention.’’

“Obviously, we are competitors, but what’s unique about loss prevention is that we work together,’’ said Mike Silveira, vice president of loss prevention at CVS Caremark, which is considering adding facial recognition technology to its advanced camera system.

Earlier this year, I warned everyone that police were using license plate readers in shopping malls.

"Across the country, DHS/Police are profiting from privately owned license-plate readers (LPR's) in parking lots, shopping malls etc. Mall of America works with the police to scan your license plate as soon as you enter one of their parking lots."

Welcome to Police State America, where everyone's face is being scanned without their knowledge!