Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have been mining state driver's license databases and using facial recognition technology to scan through millions of Americans' photos without their knowledge.

Records obtained by Georgetown Law researchers and provided to The Washington Post reveal how federal officials requested access to Department of Motor Vehicles databases in three states that offer licenses to undocumented immigrants: Utah, Vermont and Washington.

The thousands of facial-recognition requests, internal documents and emails over the past five years indicate that investigators are using state DMV records to create 'the bedrock of an unprecedented surveillance infrastructure', the Post reported.

The practice of cataloging biometric data such as fingerprints and DNA from criminal suspects has long been used by law enforcement.

However, DMV records are far more intrusive given that they contain photos and information about a vast majority of a state's residents, most of whom have no criminal record.

The records published over the weekend mark the first known instance of ICE using facial recognition technology to comb state driver's license databases, including photos of legal residents and citizens.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials driver's license databases in Utah, Vermont and Washington using facial recognition technology to analyze millions of Americans' photos without their knowledge, new records have revealed. A stock license from Utah is pictured

The records from 2014 to 2017 show that in Vermont and Utah, ICE officials were given access to DMV photos and used facial recognition technology to search them for matches.

In Washington, officials authorized administrative subpoenas of the Department of Licensing to conduct a facial recognition scan of all license applicants' photos, though it is unclear whether the state executed those searches, the Post reported.

Harrison Rudolph, an associate at Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy and Technology, said the ICE's efforts to comb databases should be swiftly shut down.

'This is a scandal,' Rudolph told the New York Times. 'States have never passed laws authorizing ICE to dive into driver's license databases using facial recognition to look for folks.

'These states have never told undocumented people that when they apply for a driver's license they are also turning over their face to ICE. That is a huge bait and switch.'

ICE spokesman Matt Bourke told the Times that the agency would not comment on 'investigative techniques, tactics or tools' due to 'law-enforcement sensitivities'.

He noted: 'During the course of an investigation, ICE has the ability to collaborate with external local, federal and international agencies to obtain information that may assist in case completion and subsequent prosecution. This is an established procedure that is consistent with other law enforcement agencies.'

A growing number of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed concern that facial recognition technology is unreliable, intrusive and dangerous (file photo)

More than two dozen states allow law enforcement officials to perform searches against DMV databases, though a growing number of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed concern that facial recognition technology is unreliable, intrusive and dangerous.

A congressional hearing was held on the topic in early June, during which the Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed that the FBI has access to about 640 million photographs — including from driver's licenses, passports and mugshots — that can be searched using facial recognition technology.

The figure reflects how the technology is becoming an increasingly powerful law enforcement tool, but is also stirring fears about the potential for authorities to intrude on the lives of Americans.

Lawmakers must put the brakes on law enforcement use of this technology until Congress decides what, if any, use cases are permissible. - Neema Singh Guliani, senior legislative counsel with the ACLU

The FBI maintains a database known as the Interstate Photo System of mugshots that can help federal, state and local law enforcement officials.

It contains about 36 million photographs, according to Gretta Goodwin of the GAO.

But taking into account the bureau contracts providing access to driver's licenses in 21 states - and its use of photos and other databases - the FBI has access to about 640 million photographs, Goodwin told lawmakers at the House oversight committee hearing.

Kimberly Del Greco, a deputy assistant director at the FBI, said the bureau has strict policies for using facial recognition.

She said it is used only when there is an active FBI investigation or an assessment, which can precede a formal investigation.

When using the state databases, the FBI submits a so-called 'probe photo' and then states conduct a search to yield a list of potential candidates to be reviewed by trained federal agents.

'Facial recognition is a tool that, if used properly, can greatly enhance law enforcement capabilities and protect public safety,' she said.

Dozens of civil liberties advocates asked lawmakers this week to implement a temporary, federal moratorium on the facial recognition technology.

'Lawmakers must put the brakes on law enforcement use of this technology until Congress decides what, if any, use cases are permissible,' said Neema Singh Guliani, senior legislative counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union.