Tattoo recognition may be coming to a law enforcement agency near you.
Law enforcement have routinely used tattoos to identify criminal suspects, unidentified victims, and map potential gang networks. But an emergent field of research and tattoo recognition technology may completely revolutionize investigations by law enforcement.
“Soon, we may see police departments using algorithms to scrape tattoos from surveillance video or cops in the field using mobile apps to analyze tattoos during stops,” write the EFF’s Dave Maass, Aaron Mackey, and Soraya Okuda. “Depending on the tattoo, such technology could be used to instantly reveal personal information, such as your religious beliefs or political affiliations.”
In a post summarizing five ways law enforcement will use tattoo recognition technology, Maaas, Mackey, and Okuda argue that the technology is no longer in its infancy and is in fact already being deployed. Read the EFF’s entire walkthrough here.
