Facial-recognition firm planning expansion beyond law enforcement: report

The controversial facial-recognition firm Clearview AI, best known for taking billions of images from people off of social media, is planning to expand its services and is on track to host 100 billion facial photos in its database within a year, The Washington Post reported.

Clearview AI is obtaining 1.5 billion photos a month, according to the Post.

The sheer number of photos in the database would be “enough to ensure everyone in the world will be identifiable,” the company said in a financial presentation in December. Clearview AI is also considering expanding its services to the gig economy and could begin to detect someone’s location from a photo.

Facial recognition software is primarily used by law enforcement in the U.S.

Clearview AI CEO Hoan Ton-That told The Hill in November 2020 that 2,400 police agencies were using the technology in response to a story about the Los Angeles Police Department placing a moratorium on third-party facial recognition services.

Social media companies, including Facebook, have sent cease-and-desist letters to Clearview AI to stop the company from poaching facial images online.

Activists have also stepped up to try and stop the company’s efforts.

Last year, progressive groups Mijente and NorCal Resist filed a lawsuit against Clearview in California to stop the company from collecting data in the state and to delete any scans of Californians.

Immigration groups have also asked the Department of Homeland Security to stop using the software.