Clearview AI, the company behind a controversial facial recognition system that scrapes social media sites to add pictures of people to its database, is on …
Clearview AI, the company behind a controversial facial recognition system that scrapes social media sites to add pictures of people to its database, is on the cusp of receiving a patent for its technology. The company confirmed Saturday that the US Trademark and Patent Office had sent it a notice of allowance, which means Clearview’s application is set to be granted once the company pays administrative fees. News of the notice was reported earlier Saturday by Politico, which said critics worry that the granting of the patent could speed the development of similar technologies before lawmakers have had time to come to grips with them. Clearview AI’s system, which is used by law enforcement agencies including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, has been criticized for feeding its database of billions of images by trawling social media sites and harvesting pictures of people without their consent. The company says the pictures it gathers are publicly available and thus should be fair game. But the approach has prompted cease-and-desist letters from Facebook, Twitter and others. And officials in Australia, Britain and Canada have called out the company over data privacy laws, as well. Clearview CEO Hoan Ton-That has also said that the company’s system is meant to identify criminal suspects and not as a surveillance tool and that Clearview is “committed to the responsible use” of its technology, including working with policy makers on facial recognition protocols.
