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of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

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    Interim Driver's Licenses and Photo IDs

    To mitigate the risk of fraud, including identity theft, PennDOT utilizes state-of-the-art facial recognition technology to validate the individual's photograph does not match another photograph in PennDOT's database under a different name(s). 

    Sample PA Driver's License with the word INTERIM stamped diagonally in red letters

    Overview

    While Pennsylvania driver's licenses/photo ID cards have contained the same digital photo and demographic data since 1994, facial recognition takes the digital photo captured at the photo center and establishes an algorithm based on an individual's facial features. It utilizes this algorithm to compare an individual's photo to all the other photos in PennDOT's database. If facial recognition identifies similar photos as possible matches, an interim driver's license or identifcation card is issued. The interim product looks the same as a permanent product with the word "INTERIM" printed in red across the front and the expiry date and outlined in red. The interim product is valid for 15 days.

    PennDOT reviews the possible matches to determine if potential fraud has occurred. If PennDOT determines there needs to be a further investigation, then and only then, does PennDOT turn it over to the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) for further investigation. Although facial recognition utilizes "biometrics" in its broadest sense, it does not uniquely identify a person like other biometric measures, i.e. fingerprints and DNA. 

    Facial recognition is utilized by PennDOT and the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP). PennDOT utilizes it to mitigate the risk of license fraud/identity theft. PSP utilizes facial recognition for criminal investigative purposes.       ​​​

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