The US-based company Clearview AI, which provides face-to-face technologies to law enforcement, such as the FBI, from social media platforms, has recently been under criticism for collecting data without people’s consent. Countries such as Australia, the UK and Canada have also issued warnings about the technology, pointing to data privacy laws.
The company, on the other hand, stated that the data of millions of people it collected was publicly available, so it did not constitute an illegal situation. However, British officials stated that these statements were not true and recently fined the company 22.6 million dollars for non-compliance with data protection laws. With the statements made yesterday, there was an important development regarding the controversial face recognition technology.
Patented for the system
According to the statements made by the authorities on Saturday, the company’s facial recognition technology is about to receive a patent. In the announcement made by Clearview AI, it was stated that the US Trademark and Patent Office (USPTO) will patent the facial recognition system after the company makes the necessary payments. This news, first reported by Politico, has raised concerns about data privacy.
Company CEO Hoan Ton-Bu also spoke about the criticisms in his statements. Ton-Bu stated that the technology will be used to detect criminals, not as a surveillance tool, adding that the company will not sell the data to anyone other than the government. However, many critics think that this technology can reveal your personal data by allowing a passerby to capture your image with their smartphone, and that law enforcement can use facial recognition technology for other purposes besides finding criminals.
May lead to false arrests
In addition, many people, citing past experiences, say that facial recognition technologies can lead to false arrests. More specifically, previous systems had difficulties in recognizing people and women of color. However, Clearview AI thinks this is not the case with its technology.
CEO Hoan Ton-Bu also stated that the Clearview technology passed the tests successfully and did not make any wrong determinations: As a non-white person, this is very important to me. I can say that I have not encountered any misidentification cases so far.
Although the company and law enforcement officials say that the technology will not be used for other than stated reasons, many people and states continue to be concerned about this situation. So what do you think? Do you think such technologies will be used for other than their intended purpose? You can share your thoughts in the comments.
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