And we engage with people from all sides of the political aisle.”Ĭlearview is keen to focus on ways the technology has helped police. “There's no left-wing way or right-wing way to catch a criminal. Ton-That says he is “not a political person at all.” The company too, is “not political,” he adds. An investigation by the Huffington Post found ties between the entrepreneur and alt-right operatives and provocateurs, some of whom have reportedly had personal access to the Clearview app. Ton-That is himself a controversial figure. “We never want this to be abused in any way.” “We're focusing on the United States, because we want to get it right here,” Ton-That says. The company says it is not currently pitching the technology outside of the US or to private industry. The rules state that: “the chief of detectives or deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism may specifically authorize the comparison of an unidentified suspect's image against images other than mug shots, if there is a legitimate need to do so.”Ĭlearview’s technology has reportedly been tested by foreign police departments and governments as well as private companies, including Macy’s and Walmart, according to documents obtained by BuzzFeed News. The New York Police Department, which is listed among those with a Clearview license, said in a statement that it introduced new rules around use of facial recognition last year. US government records list 11 federal agencies that use the technology, including the FBI, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and US Customs and Border Protection.Īccording to BuzzFeed News, several police departments that tested Clearview’s software through a free trial decided against paying to use it. The technology has been used by hundreds of police departments in the US, according to a confidential customer list acquired by BuzzFeed News Ton-That says the company has 3,100 law enforcement and government customers. It remains unclear how accurately the new techniques work, but experts say they could increase the risk that a person is wrongly identified and could exacerbate biases inherent to the system.Ĭlearview’s tech potentially improves authorities’ ability to match faces to identities, by letting officers scour the web with facial recognition. These capabilities could make Clearview’s technology more attractive but also more problematic. The first takes a blurred image and sharpens it using machine learning to envision what a clearer picture would look like the second tries to envision the covered part of a person’s face using machine learning models that fill in missing details of an image using a best guess based on statistical patterns found in other images. Ton-That says it is developing new ways for police to find a person, including “deblur” and “mask removal” tools. Some of Clearview’s new technologies may spark further debate. “The people who are worried about it, they are very vocal, and that's a good thing, because I think over time we can address more and more of their concerns,” he says. He says he believes most people accept or support the idea of using facial recognition to solve crimes. Facebook and Twitter have demanded that Clearview stop scraping their sites. The ACLU sued Clearview in Illinois under a law that restricts the collection of biometric information the company also faces class action lawsuits in New York and California. Critics say the company is eroding personal privacy. Clearview’s actions sparked public outrage and a broader debate over expectations of privacy in an era of smartphones, social media, and AI.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |