A controversial piece of facial recognition technology (and a PopSci
“Best of What’s New 2010” alum) is
rolling out
in police stations across the country this fall, and naturally not
everyone is happy about it. The Mobile Offender Recognition and
Identification System (MORIS) uses an augmented iPhone to snap pictures
of faces, scan fingerprints, and even to image irises, and then combs
through police databases looking for matching identities. This,
understandably, has privacy and civil liberties advocates crying foul.