Startup creates software used by law enforcement

Jan 20, 2020 06:05 GMT  ·  By

The FBI might have a hard time breaking into locked iPhones, but on the other hand, finding the name, address, and other details of anyone walking down the street is something that it can easily do.

And it’s all thanks to software developed by a company called Clearview AI, which built a very advanced solution that relies on facial recognition to profile pretty much anyone.

A report from the NYT reveals that the Clearview AI application is currently being used by several law enforcement agencies in the United States, including the FBI itself.

What Clearview does is rely on a photo of one individual to look for personal details, such as name and home address, all using nothing more than data collected from a wide variety of public sources. For example, Clearview scanned Facebook, YouTube, Venmo, and other large social websites to create profiles, and using facial recognition, it can then find more information on one person with a quick scan.

3 billion images collected from social networks

What convinced the FBI to use Clearview’s software is how large its database is. According to the said report, Clearview currently has 3 billion pictures in its database, whereas FBI’s own solution, which also includes passport and driver’s license photos, has less than 650 million images.

Law enforcement agencies claim they can use Clearview AI for a wide array of crimes, including not only terrorism and murder, but also more simple things like shoplifting.

But while Clearview has developed its software specifically for the police, there’s the typical concern that such a solution could end up in the wrong hands, allowing pretty much anyone to profile people walking around.

Facial recognition tech has become more commonly-used in a wide variety of scenarios, and authorities across the world one by one adopt it for public services. More recently, however, the EU has called for a five-year ban on facial recognition, requiring further regulations that would prevent its abuse.