Clearview AI stops selling face recognition data to US companies – IT Pro – News

Clearview AI promises to stop selling its face recognition database to private companies in the United States. The company does so after a settlement with the ACLU, an American civil rights organization. The company is still allowed to provide services to the government.

As part of immigration Clearview AI agrees to a permanent ban on the sale or free distribution of its face recognition database to individuals or private companies in the United States. That database contains photos of faces removed from social networks such as Facebook. The company has already stated in 2020 Breaks contracts with private companiesBut that ban is now permanent.

The company will stop offering its services in the state of Illinois for the next five years. Illinois Biometric Information Privacy ActThis also applies to government agencies in that state, with general exceptions to the BIPA Act. The company is still allowed to do business with federal and U.S. government agencies and law enforcement agencies outside of Illinois.

In addition, Illinois residents are allowed to submit a waiver request, after which Clearview AI must remove their photos from its database. The company promises to invest $ 50,000 in advertising for that opt-out option. The company will continue to filter out new photos of Illinois residents over the next five years.

The American Civil Liberties Union sees this solution as a success. “This solution demonstrates that strong privacy laws can provide real protection against abuse by requiring Clearview to comply with Illinois’ exciting biometrics law, not just in the state but across the country.” Writes a assistant director ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Program.

Clearview AI has been discredited many times in the past. The company uses scraping tools to collect photos from public sources such as social media for its facial recognition database without the permission of those in the photos. The company says this is allowed because it is about public data. Clearview is used by, for example, police officers And in Ukraine⁇

Many privacy regulators have fined Clearview AI for processing data without permission. Issued by the Italian Privacy Controller GPDP recently A fine of 20 million euros, Because Clearview “illegally collects biometric data from Italian citizens.” UK Privacy Controller ICO Intends to do the same⁇ France And Australia Previously Clearview advised to remove all data from their citizens.