NEWS MARCH 6, 2020
Clearview AI: The end of privacy? By: Grace Price
Clearview AI debuted in 2017 as a small software company, but three years later is known for its ground-breaking technological advancement: a facial recognition app that’s out to end human anonymity. This resource allegedly gives its owner the ability to scan any face and immediately retrieve access to all public information kept on that person. This power comes with a long list of dangers and downsides, not to mention its sketchy means of obtaining data and its questionable CEO. Clearview AI is a tool that sounds good in theory, its advertised purpose being to aid law enforcement with the ability to catch predators and identify victims with just the scan of a picture. With proper restrictions, perhaps an argument could be made to defend its use; however, misuse has already emerged after its short time of being in the public eye. While this AI system has existed since 2017, it wasn’t until very recently that many people discovered its existence. At the end of January this year, London’s Metropolitan Police Department announced they would adopt the AI as a new form of surveillance, which is exactly what Clearview AI promises not to be. In fact, the company’s CEO, Hoan Ton-That, often uses that claim as a defense for his company’s actions, iterating that because it is not a surveillance service, it is not a breach of privacy. After the news of the London’s Metropolitan Police Department’s plan spread, a
6 THE EYRIE
new onslaught of complaints surfaced but not because of surveillance. This time, it was a wave of cease and desist letters on behalf of companies who Clearview AI had taken photos from. Clearview AI had amassed a collection of over 3 billion photos, which they still have currently, from sites like Google, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Venmo. This raised a huge problem; the companies who’d been targeted had terms of services ensuring its users that something like this would not happen. For example, Twitter found out their users’ pictures had been, in a sense, stolen and immediately demanded Clearview AI stay clear of their platform. The damage had already been done; however, pictures that had been on any of the violated applications and sites were already in Clearview AI’s possession. Clearview AI has also been faced with issues of false claims. In August last year Clearview AI claimed they had helped crack a terrorism case in New York, a claim which they sent to a massive network of police organizations. This skyrocketed use of the AI and many police departments adopted it. The New York Police Department (NYPD), though, insisted Clearview AI was completely uninvolved with the case. They said the suspect was caught after comparing a still from a security camera to arrest photos they had already possessed and obtained in a lawful manner, unlike the AI. A police department in Toronto admitted in February 2020 to using the tech-
