Welcome to the Tech Mem Ride Home for Monday, July 8th, 2019. I'm Brian McCullough.

Today, your driver's license is already being used for facial recognition surveillance.

V.C. investment in Chinese startups is plummeting.

I have an answer to my question around cities paying ransom to hackers.

And if this podcast thing goes away, I know my next hustle.

Professional Dungeon Master. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech.

Well, in the world of tech. Well stop worrying about the surveillance state

panopticon enabled by tech that is blooming in China because it's already

here in America or I suppose continue worrying

about surveillance state panopticons aided by tech anywhere they happen because it seems like

they're basically going to be everywhere soon.

According to reporting in the Washington Post,

both the FBI and ICE have access to 641 million photos of American people's faces already, which they can use to do

facial recognition searches on.

This includes even driver's license photos from 21 states.

Basically, if you think that facial recognition

as a tool to surveil you is right around the corner,

it's worth coming to terms with the fact

that this technology is already here.

In fact, quoting from the Washington Post,

the records show the technology already

is tightly woven into the fabric of modern law enforcement. They detailed the regular use of

...