DMV lifts ban on smiling license photos

Delaware motorists can smile for the cameras again when having their driver's license photo taken, thanks to a policy change at the Division of Motor Vehicles.

The change is effective immediately, following an upgrade to the system used by the Delaware DMV to issue driver's licenses, officials said Wednesday.

Smiles had been prohibited for about five years, since the state adopted facial-recognition technology an effort to discourage identity theft, said Mike Williams, a spokesman for the DMV.

Newer technology allows the program to read both smiling and neutral expressions, he said.

"Having to enforce the no-smile protocol for driver license photos has been one of the most sensitive issues I've had to tackle," DMV Director Jennifer Cohan said in a statement. "I am glad to tell everyone that those days are over."

Licensed drivers in Delaware have grown by nearly 100,000 in the last decade, now totaling 675,000. Licenses generally must be renewed every eight years.

Contact Melissa Nann Burke at 324-2329, mburke@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @nannburke.