Clearview AI: The secretive tech company manking waves in facial recognition

Ever heard of a company called Clearview AI? If you haven’t, you’re not the only one. This American business has been causing quite a stir in the world of privacy and facial recognition. The firm revealed that it has already run almost a million searches for the US Police force. The controversial technology allows law enforcement to upload a photo of the suspect’s appearance and find a match in the database of images its software uses. The company even has been fined for millions in Europe and Australia for breaching the population’s privacy. Despite this, the United States police has continued to use the tool. Clearview’s CEO, Hoan Ton-That has described his system as a ‘’state-of-the-art neural net.’’

So how does it work? The company’s technology works by taking an image of a certain person’s face. It immediately compares it to the other images in its database. It converts facial images to mathematical formulas or vectors, based on facial geometry. The system then creates a cluster of similar vectors. If a user uploads a picture, Clearview will try to find a cluster that matches the picture. In the case that a match is found, the software comes up with the name and other personal information of the individual that is found. There are quite a few benefits that come with the use of this technology. It allows law enforcement to quickly track people who have possibly committed crimes. It could also be used to find missing people, reunite separated families, identify victims of human trafficking and help police solve cases. This seems to be true, as Miami’s Assistant Chief of Police Armando Aguilar has said that his team used Clearview AI’s system an estimated 450 times this year and that it has helped to solve several murders.

Even though the technology behind this is fascinating, what’s even more interesting is how the company has managed to stay under the radar for so long. Clearview AI doesn’t offer much disclosure on how the app works or how it aims to protect data privacy. Clearview AI’s controversy lies in the fact that critics feel it is a breach of privacy and the way the company operates under the radar, causing it to be unclear how its privacy policy is compliant with the law and how it uses citizen’s personal data. One of the reasons that the technology is relatively unknown is because it has faced quite some pushback from privacy advocates. The company uses individual’s data without their consent. For instance, their CEO has told the BBC that the firm has taken over 30 billion images from platforms such as Facebook, without their user’s permission. Experts are concerned about these developments. Kate Ruane, Senior Counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union explained: “The perils of face recognition technology are not hypothetical — study after study and real-life have already shown us its dangers.’’ Because of the uncertainty around Clearview’s policy and the lack of transparency on how the police uses its technology, the risk of a wrongful arrest is significantly high. When Clearview’s CEO was asked to comment on the critical views on the risks that his app could bring, he stated: “I have to think about that. Our belief is that this is the best use of the technology.’’

The future of Clearview is still uncertain. Police officers and investors of the system predicted that the app will eventually be available to the general public. But CEO Ton-That said to be reluctant. “There’s always going to be a community of bad people who will misuse it,” he stated. So even though this company is still relatively unknown, it’s sure this is one to keep an eye on!

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