Glitch generates wrong photos on Arizona driver's licenses

[June 26, 2014]  By David Schwartz
 
 PHOENIX (Reuters) - A new system implemented to better process Arizona driver's licenses has turned out to be less than picture-perfect in its first week of operation - generating a handful licenses with photographs of the wrong person.

A technical error has caused at least eight residents to receive permanent licenses in the mail with all the correct information – but with another person's photograph and signature, a state official said on Wednesday

Stacey Stanton, Arizona motor vehicles department director, said the agency learned of the apparent snafu on Tuesday and believes the problem was limited to a "few, rare circumstances."

Arizona implemented the new system on June 16, complete with a redesigned driver's license, in an attempt to centralize processing and improve security.

Under the new system, applicants receive a paper permit good for 30 days at 56 locations statewide until a permanent license can be sent.

Stanton said a trouble-shooting team was making sure that there are no other such cases to be found in the roughly 45,000 requests for licenses, identification cards and permits processed since the system began. She said that there was no breach of any personal information.

"We feel we have our arms around the problem at this time," she said.

(Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Sandra Maler)

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