According to the investor presentation, 100 billion photographs would "identify" practically everyone.
Clearview AI, a contentious face recognition startup, allegedly informed investors that it plans to collect 100 billion photographs, ostensibly enough to include practically every individual in its database.
"According to a business presentation acquired by The Washington Post in December, Clearview AI is on target to have 100 billion face pictures in its database within a year, enough to assure 'virtually everyone in the world would be recognized,'" the Post said today. The world's population is predicted to be 7.9 billion people.
The December presentation was part of an effort to get fresh funds from investors, so the objective of 100 billion facial photos is more of a target than a concrete strategy. The presentation, however, stated that Clearview had already accumulated 10 billion photographs and is adding 1.5 billion images every month, according to the Post. According to the Washington Post, Clearview informed investors that it needs another $50 million to reach its target of 100 billion photos:
Clearview gathers images from the internet.
As the Washington Post pointed out, "Clearview compiled its database by scraping photographs from social media sites and other internet sources without the websites' or people's permission. Facebook, Google, Twitter, and YouTube have all ordered that the corporation cease collecting images and erase those that have already been taken from their services. The First Amendment, according to Clearview, protects its data collecting."
An expanded commercial strategy might be matched with the growth of photographs. Clearview "wants to go beyond scanning faces for the cops," according to the Post, "saying in the presentation that it could monitor 'gig economy' workers and is researching a number of new technologies that could identify someone based on how they walk, detect their location from a photo, or scan their fingerprints from afar."
We contacted Clearview about the presentation and received a brief comment from Hoan Ton-That, the company's founder and CEO. "Clearview AI's library of publicly available photos, like that of any other search engine, including Google, is gathered legally. It is utilized by law enforcement for post-crime investigations to aid in the identification of criminals "'I told Ars,' he said.
The firm has gathered photographs from "millions of various websites" on the public Internet, according to Ton-That. According to Ton-That, the firm hasn't chosen whether or not to offer its face recognition technology to non-profits.
"Principles will be revised as needed," says Clearview.
A declaration of principles may be found on Clearview's website. According to the statement, "Clearview AI now offers its solutions to only one type of customer—government organizations and their agents." "It restricts the use of its technology to law enforcement agencies conducting authorized investigations into criminal activity or preventing particular, significant, and impending risks to people's lives or physical safety."
"Every photo in the data collection is a possible clue that might save a life, offer justice to an innocent victim, prevent a mistaken identification, or exonerate an innocent person," Ton-That said in a statement to the Post. However, the company's strategy may evolve in tandem with its business model. "Our beliefs are based on how our technology is now being used. The principles will be revised as needed if those purposes alter "That's all there is to it.
In early 2020, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube asked Clearview AI to cease scraping their sites. During Black Lives Matter events later that year, police employed Clearview technology to identify and detain persons suspected of violence or property destruction. "It is wonderful that Clearview AI has been utilized to identify the Capitol rioters who attacked our magnificent symbol of democracy," Ton-That remarked after the incident on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Clearview lost in court
Clearview is facing a slew of privacy lawsuits, including one in which the firm was found to have violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act by collecting and exploiting face pictures without authorization. The Electronic Frontier Foundation said Monday that a federal court "rejected Clearview's First Amendment defense, dismissed the company's petition to dismiss, and allowed the litigation to proceed." "This is a significant win for our privacy versus Clearview's bottom line."
According to a Vice story published yesterday, Airbnb, Lyft, and Uber have "shown interest" in adopting Clearview facial recognition "for the sake of consent-based identification verification, given the high number of crimes that occur on their services." Ton-That, on the other hand, stated that "there are no present intentions to cooperate with" those firms, and all three firms informed Vice that they had no plans to employ Clearview.
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