'Chilling': Facial recognition firm Clearview AI hits watchdog groups with subpoenas:
Clearview AI, the controversial facial recognition company that scrapes public images from social media to aid law enforcement probes, has subpoenaed internal documents from some of the groups that first exposed its activities.
The firm served subpoenas in August to civil society coalition Open The Government, its policy analyst Freddy Martinez and the police accountability nonprofit that he’d previously founded, Lucy Parsons Labs — demanding any correspondence they’d had with journalists about Clearview and its leaders, as well as information they’d uncovered about the company and its founders in public records requests, over the last four years.
The subpoenas, obtained by POLITICO, could draw the groups into lengthy court battles and, they argue, dissuade others from taking on Clearview or other companies working on potentially problematic technologies.
David Brody, counsel and senior fellow for privacy and technology at the nonprofit Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said the move could be seen as an attempt to deter the advocacy groups, and journalists, from future investigations.
[...] Authorities have been using Clearview’s software for several years to try to match images in government databases and surveillance footage with billions of personal photos posted to the internet. Privacy, human rights and civil liberties advocates have long raised alarm about facial recognition technology as both intrusive and biased. It has been shown to disproportionately misidentify women and people of color.
Clearview's attorney Andrew J. Lichtman said in a statement that “Clearview AI is vigorously defending itself against claims in multi-district litigation and therefore has served subpoenas to appropriate parties relating to its defense.”
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday September 28 2021, @06:14PM (2 children)
It's the most obvious strategy. Make the bastards defend themselves, instead of sitting idly, and fending off their attacks.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 29 2021, @08:07AM (1 child)
Yes. Use the court system as your personal bodyguard, I'm sure they like that very much.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday September 29 2021, @12:35PM
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday September 28 2021, @06:22PM
Who served the subpoenas? The "Firm"? There's no judge involved here?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 5, Insightful) by DannyB on Tuesday September 28 2021, @07:16PM (6 children)
Attention January 6 rioters: maybe THIS is the kind of thing you should get riled up about. Especially when you toss around words like 'tyranny' and 'traitors'. (referring to people in government who were just doing their jobs, including Republicans who were doing their jobs)
Much better than getting riled up about the outcome of a peaceful election.
This type of thing is what we should be afraid of.
It's not which party is in control. It is how did we even get here? How was this allowed to happen so quietly?
People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 28 2021, @07:24PM (5 children)
There's one thing you gotta understand about the *January 6 rioters*, all they want is to chase all the niggers, spiks, and chinks out, or least keep them behind a fence, out of sight, until they need to have their butts wiped.
I don't know why we don't have the balls to chase the *January 6 rioters* out, or at least off the damn plane
(Score: 3, Touché) by Tork on Tuesday September 28 2021, @07:35PM (2 children)
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 28 2021, @08:14PM (1 child)
No, they were already racist before they got there.
(Score: 4, Touché) by Tork on Tuesday September 28 2021, @08:23PM
Maybe so maybe no but in this context it's about as appropriate as criticizing them for not wanting a second season of Firefly. It might apply but isn't relevant to "Janury 6th Rioters".
You have PLENTY to criticize them for, like the entire reason they were there, no need to drag in unrelated shit.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 28 2021, @09:54PM (1 child)
January 6th insurrectionists! What a bunch of losers.
If we're going by the common english language definition and not weird US law
They were all T R A I T O R S.
You get to be called a patriot when you actually have evidence for the crimes you are going all treasonous violent insurrection over.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 28 2021, @10:08PM
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/no-seditious-conspiracy-charges-emerge-us-capitol-riots-cases-2021-06-03/ [reuters.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 29 2021, @12:16AM (2 children)
seems a reasonable expectation of privacy for a person going about their life somewhat in public.
If you do something to call attention to yourself, then you get attention. Otherwise, not so much.
Drawing attention, even in public is a choice.
Hard to see how a needle in a computerized haystack can be anything even close?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 29 2021, @01:25AM
> Hard to see how a needle in a computerized haystack can be anything even close?
Close to what? It seems like you might have a point here, but I can't suss it out from your choice of words.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Wednesday September 29 2021, @02:19AM
Face masks suddenly seem a lot more appealing... preferably topped with a nice reflective shield.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 29 2021, @01:51AM (4 children)
Two responses spring to mind, countersue to oppose the subpoenas, and if that fails then publicly release ALL the the information they have, every little speculation about how dirty Clearview is, everything nasty anyone EVER said about them.
If a court orders you to tell, it can't be libel can it?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 29 2021, @02:05AM (3 children)
The problem with counter-suing is that you are mud wrestling the pig (and the pig likes it).
> ... Prior investors include Peter Thiel and Naval Ravikant.
From https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210726005315/en/Clearview-AI-Closes-30-Million-Series-B-Funding-Round [businesswire.com]
And the vindictive bastard Thiel is very, very rich. One of many background/bio links: https://www.npr.org/2021/09/21/1039247214/the-contrarian-profiles-peter-thiel-paypal-co-founder-and-political-provocateur [npr.org]
(Score: 2) by Tokolosh on Wednesday September 29 2021, @02:11AM (2 children)
And how we cheered when Thiel took down Gawker!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 29 2021, @02:35AM
Gawker took down Gawker. Thiel was just Hogan's gaydian angel.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 29 2021, @03:20AM
> And how we cheered...
Speak for yourself, I didn't cheer. Gawker may have been horrible, but it was easy to ignore.