Facial recognition startup Clearview AI has agreed to restrict the use of its massive collection of face images to settle allegations that it collected people's photos without their consent:
The company in a legal filing Monday agreed to permanently stop selling access to its face database to private businesses or individuals around the U.S., putting a limit on what it can do with its ever-growing trove of billions of images pulled from social media and elsewhere on the internet.
The settlement — which must be approved by a county judge in Chicago — will end a 2-year-old lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups over alleged violations of an Illinois digital privacy law. The company still faces a separate privacy case before a federal judge in Illinois.
Clearview is also agreeing to stop making its database available to Illinois state government and local police departments for five years. The New York-based company will continue offering its services to federal agencies, such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and to other law enforcement agencies and government contractors outside of Illinois.
[...] The settlement document says Clearview continues to deny and dispute the claims brought by the ACLU and other plaintiffs. But even before Monday's settlement, the case has been curtailing some of the company's controversial business practices.
Also at The Guardian, CNN, TechCrunch, ACLU.
Previously
Why Facial Recognition Technology Has an Uncertain Future with Small Business
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Clearview AI's co-founder Hoan Ton-That recently defended his startup's use of controversial facial recognition software:
If you're skeptical about whether your company will ever use facial recognition technology as a business tool, you're not alone. Perhaps the most prominent facial recognition technology provider in the world, Clearview AI, has attracted significant criticism and raised ethical concerns even as it has been used by law enforcement.
In a live interview with the Washington Post last week, New York-based Clearview AI's co-founder and CEO Hoan Ton-That addressed questions about the ethical and legal implications of his software, which became first known to many Americans when a billionaire used it to identify his daughter's dinner date, and for the involvement of far-right individuals in the creation of the company. Pressed on questions about the legal and ethical choices his firm has made while creating a searchable database of 20 billion facial images, Ton-That repeatedly brought up examples where the use cases of Clearview AI's technology would look better in the public eye, mentioning its use in helping catch criminals in child pornography and child abuse cases. Ton-That also pointed to the use of Clearview AI's technology by the Ukrainian government to identify dead Russian soldiers, for notifying their families of their passing.
While Clearview AI has some 20 billion facial images to feed its current product, the dataset is being used only by governments so far. "There's no non-governmental use of this dataset at this time," Ton-That said, adding that "we've developed as prototypes different versions of our technology for retail and banking."
Ton-That went on to say he welcomes regulation and his company will not do business with governments he described as "authoritarian."
Originally spotted on The Eponymous Pickle.
Previously:
Ukraine Reportedly Adopts Clearview AI to Track Russian Invaders
Italy Slaps Facial Recognition Firm Clearview AI With €20 Million Fine
Facial Recognition Firm Clearview AI Tells Investors: It's Seeking Massive Expansion
France Has Ordered Clearview AI to Delete its Facial Recognition Data
US Government Agencies Plan to Increase Their Use of Facial Recognition Technology
And many more
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11, @05:51AM
Meanwhile, in better news:
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 11, @07:58AM
So, are we just ignoring the alt-right origins of this nefarious corporation, again? Would be nice to share some background, and how they are joined jowl and titties to the alt-right. Funny Peter is not in there. Or Paul. Arkansas Paul.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by inertnet on Wednesday May 11, @08:07AM
If I wanted to forbid them using images of me, I'd have to send them my picture. How crazy is that?
I know that there are a lot of people that would do anything to become famous, but you have to realize that there are also people who are doing the opposite: who're doing their best _not_ to get famous. For me personally there's a chance of this happening sometime in the coming year, as soon as a project I've been working on for 9 years is finished and publicized (nothing to do with tech). It bothers me to know that random people would be able to recognize me, or could even locate me if they wanted to. In due time I'll explain to y'all why this even matters more for this particular project. There will be public exposure, but that will be handled by someone who doesn't mind that.
But even without those circumstances I think this kind of tech will not benefit humanity. Before the internet this was unthinkable and nothing to worry about, but now we have examples of nations using facial recognition for behavioral adjustment. To me it's a limitation of a freedom that humanity has always had before.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday May 12, @04:56PM
These kinds of agreements, without rigorous enforcement, are just lip service.
Notice what they didn't agree to: Under these rules, there's nothing at all stopping the Illinois state or local police departments from asking nicely for either the feds or a neighboring state to use Clearview and tell them the results of that search.
Alcohol makes the world go round ... and round and round.