Clearview AI and the Dangers of Facial Recognition
Is your face just a piece of data?
The technology behind facial recognition used to be something that we only saw in the movies, but nowadays you can unlock your phone in the blink of an eye using this software.
Are we forgetting what this could mean for our privacy?
Today we’d like to focus on the case of a specific startup called “Clearview AI”, which has been recently involved in controversial news. In case you haven’t heard about them, they’re an American company that provides facial recognition software to law enforcement agencies.
Their app works by gathering photos from all over the Internet and scanning them to create a big database of different faces. Their algorithm can take measures of the face, save the distance between features and create a unique “faceprint” to each person on the list.
With that knowledge, users can submit the picture of an individual to the app and it will scan the database to provide the closest matching faceprints.
This means that anyone who has posted pictures on their social media could be on Clearview’s database and not even know it. Even people who don’t use social media at all might’ve appeared in photos from other users, and their faces are just as exposed as the rest.
Clearview kept a low profile for years, and once their case went public they received many complaints from the public and even big companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter; who sent them cease-and-desist letters.
The tech startup responded by claiming their app is “available only for law enforcement agencies and select security professionals to use as an investigative tool.”
They claim it has been used by the police to identify criminals and victims, successfully solving important cases of child abuse.
Nevertheless, some leaked information proved that the police might not be their only client.
Who else gets access to our face?
It turns out that Clearview’s technology has also been used by other commercial companies, investors, and friends of the creative team. Buzzfeed found that their facial recognition database was used by Best Buy, the NBA, the Bank of America, and also by wealthy individuals to identify people at parties and business meetings.
There’s even the notorious case of billionaire John Catsimatidis using the app to identify the new date of her daughter in a matter of seconds and without her consent.
Clearview can basically function as a toy for anyone who wants to spy on a stranger.
This obviously raises major privacy concerns for everyone involved. Sure, it can be a helpful tool to identify criminals, but if it’s in the wrong hands, it can be abused with a complete disregard of the public’s security.
Think about it, the FBI has a database of more than 640 million photos of faces, while Clearview claims to have more than 3 billion photos gathered from all the corners of the Internet.
Our face has a big chance of being there and there’s nothing we can do about it.
Is there a middle ground?
Does this mean that we should boycott Clearview and ban facial recognition technology as a whole? There’s no need to go that far.
Technology is always moving forward, and a bigger database of faces in order to stop terrible crimes or identify victims is a valuable tool for law enforcement. However, any tech that compromises the privacy of the public should be regulated. Transparency is key to make sure the people trust the use of this software.
Clearview can’t be an app for the police and commercial companies at the same time. It’s either one or the other. This kind of information can be very powerful and very sensitive, so we wouldn’t be surprised if the wrong use could lead to a potentially dangerous data breach.
There’s still time to find a middle ground where security remains the priority. Security for the public and security to fight crime using this tech. Only the law can regulate what’s best for the citizens, so let’s hope the right thing is done to protect our faces.
Taking privacy in your own hands
In the meantime, we recommend users to protect their browsing experience as a whole. This means, being aware of how much they share and who they share it with. Blocking tracking and malicious software from the web, and being informed about the general privacy guidelines of every platform they use.
For now, we can help you remove the eyes of any spies from your digital life. Our solution is called Online.io and it’s built to protect users from malware, trackers, ads and other threats to your security. Let’s protect your face and the rest of your online data.
