Department: Motor Vehicles
Category: Customer Service, IT
Idea/Initiative: Using Photos to Prevent Identity Theft
Objective: To utilize technology that protects Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) customers against identity theft.
Description: DMV customers who have a California driver license or identification card have a photo history record established in the DMV database. This photo history record remains on file with the department. When a customer requests a duplicate driver license or identification card, due to losing the original document, a DMV service representative has the ability to retrieve the customer’s current photo from the department database and view it at the workstation. The DMV service representative compares the most recently issued department photo to the individual requesting a new driver license or identification card to verify the identity of the person making the request.
The photo database allows the service representative to compare the photo to the customer, which ensures that the individual is correctly representing themself and entitled to a duplicate document from the established department record.
Results: The implementation of the photo retrieval system at each service representative’s workstation has provided the department with an additional fraud prevention measure that protects against identity theft.