University of New Hampshire Scholars\u27 Repository
Abstract
In this brief, authors Daniel Bromberg, Étienne Charbonneau, and Andrew Smith present the findings of a 2017 Granite State Poll asking New Hampshire residents how they feel about the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) sharing their driver’s license photos with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). Currently 21 states, though not New Hampshire, share DMV data with the FBI in support of its effort to build a massive database of over 400 million photos to which it applies facial recognition technology. The authors report that about 70 percent of Granite Staters support the state DMV sharing photos with the FBI for inclusion in the national facial recognition database. Trump voters show the strongest support, but over 60 percent of Clinton voters and nonvoters would also support the practice. Women more strongly support the sharing of DMV photos than do men. Support in the Manchester and Seacoast areas is less than in other areas of the state but still exceeds 60 percent. New Hampshire is one of the few states comprehensively addressing the collection of biometric data. A discussion among law enforcement, policymakers, and the public seems imperative as the use of facial recognition technology continues to expand
