The MFJS Reporter — Winter 2020 M-W

Clearview AI, new facial recognition technology being adopted by law enforcement, scrapes photos and information from social media for use in their database – and is stirring up controversy across the US and on the University of Denver campus.

In an era of shared information, security is called into question with each tap of the finger. For law enforcement implementing Clearview AI, the very technology which could contribute to public security is encroaching on it in equal doses.  

A recent New York Times article shot Clearview AI into the spotlight for its unique use of social media user’s information in its facial recognition database. The app scrapes photos from apps like Venmo, Facebook, YouTube and others, to be used in facial recognition scanning to catch criminals. This technology dances with user’s civil right to privacy.

At the University of Denver, some students expressed concern for their own right to privacy.

Irving Humphrey, undergraduate at University of Denver, said “I’m sure it’s helpful for [police] work, but it’s an invasion of privacy.”

According to a 2019 survey with Pew Research, roughly seven out of 10 adults use Facebook alone. This accounts for the majority of adults and college students alike, in the Clearview Database through implied consent. In reference to marketing material provided by Clearview AI in the Times piece, the company cites having access three billion photos versus the FBI database with 411 million.

The scope of this type of technology raises eyebrows when assessing its validity.

Riley Scott, sophomore at University of Denver, is weary of the margin for error in criminal justice.

“There is [harm] for someone that looks like a certain suspect and falsely accused, but beside that I think it can potentially be a good thing,” she said

In the Times piece CEO, Hoan Ton-That claimed to have aided NYPD in solving a tough case, this however, was refuted by NYPD in a recent statement from a Buzzfeed News report. The NYPD stated that it utilized a department sourcing photo database from “lawfully possessed photos” and matching them with surveillance stills, not by using Clearview AI.

Some students believe that the untruths told by the company are not a good basis for trust, and that could be consequential when dealing with billions of social media user’s information.

Katie Nicoli, sophomore at University of Denver, questions why he would choose to claim to help a well-known police department and lie about it.

“I don’t understand why Clearview would do that,” She said.

While there are growing concerns for the invasion of privacy the app poses, as of now, there are no laws which restrict the action of “scraping”, the technique the company uses to collect user information.

Though this process is legal and has potential for good, Humphrey, like many, does not believe it should be used in policing. However, others feel it is unavoidable to have information posted to social media utilized for extraneous reasons.

Nicoli believes by choosing to put information on the internet, you in-turn agree to have it used for other purposes.

“We have already taken the step to put ourselves out there socially on the internet, and any right-minded human being should know that anything they put on the internet is going to be seen no matter what,” Nicoli said.