Utah Department of Public Safety

Draft legislation to regulate government use of facial recognition software was unveiled and subsequently abandoned Wednesday after some lawmakers worried it did not do enough to protect privacy.

Lawmakers plan to run legislation to address the state Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) use of facial recognition software to scan Utahns’ driver's license photos.

Utah lawmakers from both parties say they make take legislative action following admission by the Utah Department of Public Safety that the agency routinely runs facial recognition software through a state database of driver’s license and mugshot photos.

Utah officials are disputing some details from reports that the state allows federal agencies to scour photos and information from its driver’s license database.