Clearview AI

Clearview AI, Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryFacial recognition, software
Founded2017; 7 years ago (2017)[1]
FoundersHoan Ton-That
Richard Schwartz
Headquarters
Manhattan, New York City, United States
Areas served
Globally excluding EU, UK, NZ, Canada, Australia
ProductsClearview AI Software Clearview AI Search Engine
Websiteclearview.ai

Clearview AI, Inc. is an American facial recognition company, providing software primarily to law enforcement and other government agencies.[2] The company's algorithm matches faces to a database of more than 20 billion images collected from the Internet, including social media applications.[1] Founded by Hoan Ton-That and Richard Schwartz, the company maintained a low profile until late 2019, until its usage by law enforcement was first reported.[3]

Use of the facial recognition tool has been controversial. Several U.S. senators have expressed concern about privacy rights and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has sued the company for violating privacy laws on several occasions. U.S. police have used the software to apprehend suspected criminals.[4][5][6] Clearview's practices have led to fines and bans by EU nations for violating privacy laws, and investigations in the U.S. and other countries.[7][8][9] In 2022, Clearview reached a settlement with the ACLU, in which they agreed to restrict U.S. market sales of facial recognition services to government entities.

Clearview AI was the victim of a data breach in 2020 which exposed their customer list. This demonstrated 2,200 organizations in 27 countries had accounts with facial recognition searches.[10]

  1. ^ a b Hill, Kashmir (January 18, 2020). "The Secretive Company That Might End Privacy as We Know It". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  2. ^ What We Learned About Clearview AI and Its Secret 'Co-Founder'
  3. ^ "Clearview AI Says Its Facial Recognition Software Identified A Terrorism Suspect. The Cops Say That's Not True". BuzzFeed News. January 23, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference nj.c_NewJ was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference capitol_riot was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Council, Jared (January 8, 2021). "Local Police Force Uses Facial Recognition to Identify Capitol Riot Suspects". The Wall Street Journal.
  7. ^ "Riconoscimento facciale: il Garante privacy sanziona Clearview per 20 milioni di euro. Vietato l'uso dei dati biometrici e il monitoraggio degli italiani". gpdp.it (in Italian). Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference buzz_Sena was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Clearview AI ordered to delete facial recognition data belonging to UK residents". The Verge. May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference exclusvie was invoked but never defined (see the help page).