What is ClearView AI? Why care about it?

If you care about your privacy, use caution when posting photos online and remove yourself from Clearview's AI database.

So what is Clearview AI? Why should you care about it? And how can you delete your photos from Clearview AI database?

What is Clearview AI?

Clearview AI is an American company that provides facial recognition technology to its customers. You upload a photo of a person and Clearview AI will show you public photos of that person. You'll also see links where those public photos appear.

According to the Clearview AI website, the company offers the following solutions:

1. Web-based facial recognition service for law enforcement agencies.
2. Consent-based API for commercial marketplaces.
3. JusticeClearview is for court-appointed attorneys.
4. The Clearview mobile app is for busy users.

As reported by BuzzFeed, Clearview AI's clients include the Department of Justice, Walmart, FBI, Homeland Security, and more.

The BBC reports, the founder of Clearview AI said the company has done a million searches for the US police department. The company claims to have more than 30 billion images in its database. With the current world population (about 8 billion people), Clearview AI can have about 4 images for every person in the world.

But the biggest concern is that the images in Clearview's database have been secretly obtained from social networks, YouTube and other online platforms without user consent.

So, if you have ever posted your photo on any social networking platform or someone posted a photo with your face, there is a high chance that you have appeared in Clearview AI's database. .

Controversy surrounding Clearview AI

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In the United States, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other groups filed a lawsuit against Clearview AI in 2020 for alleged violations of Illinois' digital privacy laws (according to The New York Times). Under the lawsuit settlement agreement, Clearview AI agreed to restrict the sale of its facial recognition software to law enforcement agencies.

As reported by the BBC, the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has found that the company has breached UK data protection laws, ordering the company to delete and stop using the data. individuals of UK citizens. The UK's privacy watchdog has fined the company more than £7.5 million.

Italy's data protection agency has instructed Clearview AI to delete facial biometrics of Italian citizens and forbid the company from further processing images of Italian citizens, TechCrunch reports. The data protection authority also fined Clearview 20 million euros for violating EU law.

Bleeping Computer further notes that French authorities have fined Clearview AI 20 million euros for illegally collecting and processing information of French citizens. Greece's privacy authority has also fined Clearview AI 20 million euros for violating parts of Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), according to The Record.

TechCrunch reports that Australia's information and privacy commissioner has directed Clearview AI to stop collecting facial data of Australian citizens and delete existing data after it was discovered that Clearview AI had violated the Human Rights Act. Australian privacy.

According to The New York Times, Canadian authorities also declared Clearview AI's activities illegal and said that the company needed citizens' consent to use their biometric information.

Because of the way Clearview AI collects information and uses it to provide facial recognition software, data protection authorities around the world are taking this very seriously. But regulators are still fighting to stop the company from collecting photos of people on the Internet.

Why worry about Clearview AI?

If all the reports of privacy violations aren't enough to concern you, you still need to be wary of the controversial facial recognition model used by Clearview AI.

Invasion of privacy

There are important reasons why privacy should be considered a fundamental right. The facial recognition technology used by Clearview AI allows users to identify people without their knowledge or consent. This is an invasion of privacy because people may not be aware that their online photos are being collected and put into a third-party database.

Monitor

Clearview AI could be a major threat to freedom of speech and civil rights. Enforcement agencies and other entities in oppressive regimes can use it to identify activists and members of civil society without their knowledge.

Misidentified

Facial recognition technology tends not to match certain groups, such as people of color. So enforcement agencies that use Clearview AI to identify criminals may get false results, which can cause unnecessary trouble for innocent people.

Cybersecurity risks

The company's database has been hacked once in the past. Now that Clearview AI claims to have more than 30 billion pieces of information in its database, it's well-founded to worry that it could be vulnerable to various cyberattacks.

In short, Clearview AI is a serious threat to privacy. Users of this controversial technology have the right to identify random pedestrians on the street, individuals protesting against discriminatory laws and righteous activists.

How to remove yourself from Clearview AI's database

How likely you are to remove yourself from the Clearview AI database depends on where you live and what applicable privacy laws protect you. Currently, residents of California and the US state of Virginia can fill out forms to delete their information.

Visit the Clearview AI homepage and scroll to the bottom of the page. Then, click the Privacy & Requests menu .

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Click the Delete button to open a web form that will ask you to:

1. Verify if you are a resident of California or Virginia.
2. Select the permissions you want to exercise (choose Delete My Information ).
3. Send an email address so the company can confirm that your request to delete data has been completed.
4. Submit a quality photo.

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If you live in Illinois, you'll need to click the Opt-Out button to open an auto opt-out form that doesn't show up in Clearview's AI database.

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In the automatic form for Illinois residents, simply click the I Accept button to accept the Illinois Biometric Retention Policy agreement and submit your photo.

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If you are a resident of the states listed above, you can opt out of Clearview's AI database. For residents in other states and countries, the Clearview AI website does not provide any information about self-exclusion from its database.

But Clearview AI scans people's faces online. So, avoiding posting photos on platforms where people can access them freely could prevent Clearview AI from finding information about you and adding them to its database in the future.

Marvin Fry

Update 12 May 2023