Rhode Island DMV

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Rhode Island Access to Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is conducting a survey of state agencies’ use of facial recognition (FR) technology. We intend this request to cover all facial recognition software, hardware, databases, and other technology used to search driver’s license and state identification records (Driver Services photo database).

We request the following records under the Rhode Island's Public Records Act:
1. Any manuals, memos, policies or other guidelines that the Department of Safety and Homeland Security or other relevant agency follows for using the FR system;
2. Formal or informal policies or rules followed by Department of Safety and Homeland Security personnel for running facial recognition searches requested by external entities, including, but not limited to, federal, state or local law enforcement agencies;
3. Any notices, memoranda, or other alerts provided by the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to external agencies about the ability to run or request facial recognition searches against the Driver Services photo database. This request includes, but is not limited to instructions, request forms, and other materials issued to external agencies regarding requests to conduct a facial recognition search against the Driver Services photo database;
4. Agreements or memoranda of understanding (MOUs) signed with external entities, including FBI or DHS, permitting those entities to run or request facial recognition searches against the photo database.
5. Any records relating to the sharing of biometric information or FR with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) or the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS), including, but not limited to, RFPs, responses to RFPs, agreements, contracts, correspondence, reports and invoices.

We request that where available and appropriate, responsive records are provided electronically in their native format (such as a CSV file), or as text-searchable PDFs, and that the parent/child relationship between records is preserved.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Matthew Guariglia