German authorities have decided to wipe the grins off the faces of passport applicants:
"Germans were ordered Thursday to stay serious when having their photographs taken for new passports, wiping away any grins, smirks or smiles so that biometric scanners can pick up their facial features.
"Interior Minister Otto Schily ordered passport authorities to only accept pictures taken from the front showing the ‘most neutral facial expression possible,’ starting Nov. 1.
"Facial recognition systems match key features on the holder’s face and work best when the face has a neutral expression with the mouth closed.
"’A broad smile, however nice it may be, is therefore unacceptable,’ the Interior Ministry said in a statement."
English-speaking photographers have long ordered their subjects to say "Cheese!" before snapping the shot, presumably because saying that word widens the mouth and thus encourages a grin. I wonder what the command to German passport applicants now should be when having their mug shots taken.
I wonder what the command to German passport applicants now should be when having their mug shots taken.
Say “Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.”
“Versailles”
Clayton: haha!
It’s not just the Germans… the same rule applies here in the UK. (Cue one of Jimmy’s ‘UK Yahoos’ posts)
The same rule applies also in Canada!
Sometime in the future: if you have a smile on your passport photo, you could be suspected of trying to subvert the facial recognition system and may be held for investigation.
So, if you have a ‘neutral’ expression on your pport pic, would it not behoove you, espicially if you are an islamokazi, to go though an airport grinning like an idiot? If smiling defeats the system at one end, would it not at the other?