Tech companies are endangering our communities on a massive scale! 

[ [link removed] ][IMG]

Demand that Facebook, LinkedIn, and Venmo ban Clearview from scraping
our data

[ [link removed] ]Take Action

 
John,

Facial recognition startup, Clearview has been scraping our user data from
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Venmo, and handing it over to law
enforcement. Clearview is an inherently dangerous company that collects
images of our faces from across the Internet - completely violating the
terms of service agreements between users and the platforms.^1 Even more
dangerous is the fact that the CEO of Clearview has known ties to white
nationalists.^2

This is bound to disproportionately harm Black people. Facial Recognition
Technology is proven to misidentify Black people more than other groups,
and Clearview’s use of social media photos ensures that it will be even
more inaccurate than already problematic government systems of
identification. Since Clearview is directly sharing this information with
law enforcement, Black people are bound to be wrongfully targeted for
arrest. Even Attorney Generals recognize how dangerous this app is - the
state of New Jersey has banned officers from using Clearview!^3

Facebook, Venmo, LinkedIn and other social media companies that allowed
Clearview to break their privacy agreements have a responsibility to do
everything they can to rein in this exploitative company.

[ [link removed] ]Demand that Facebook, Venmo, LinkedIn, and other platforms take legal
action against Clearview for systematically violating their terms of
service.

The potential for police to abuse this dangerous surveillance is already
unfolding. Despite the fact that the NYPD’s facial recognition unit told
its officers that it did not want them to use Clearview because of its
lack of security and the potential for abuse, there are reports that at
least 36 rogue NYPD cops have used Clearview thousands of times on their
personal phones.^4

Once again, tech companies are endangering our communities on a massive
scale. So far, Twitter is the only social media company to send a
cease-and-desist letter to Clearview, while Facebook - which also owns
Instagram and WhatsApp, accounting for 2.1 billion daily users - has once
again been slow to protect them. We are calling on every company involved
to take legal action and demand that Clearview stop stealing their user
data.

[ [link removed] ]Demand that Facebook, Venmo, LinkedIn and other platforms take legal
action against Clearview for systematically violating the terms of
service.

When users sign up for these platforms, they are given an expectation of
privacy, along with statements that these companies do not sell their data
to other companies. Yet Clearview is completely disregarding these
agreements and scraping user data for its anti-Black motives. If Silicon
Valley’s self-proclaimed "good guys" can't protect us from "bad guys" like
Clearview, then it’s time for government regulation that can prevent this
type of harm.

It’s impossible for Silicon Valley companies to claim they can prevent and
contain these problems on their own, when they are the ones behind them.
Clearview was backed financially by Peter Thiel - a Facebook board member
and loyal friend of Donald Trump. As a board member of Facebook who either
knowingly or unknowingly compromised its user data - Thiel is violating
his legal responsibility to protect Facebook users from predatory third
parties.

Facebook must be held accountable for (once again) not protecting user
data. LinkedIn, Venmo, and every other company involved must also take the
necessary steps to secure the privacy of their users. While these
companies must act now to stop Clearview before it is allowed to do any
further damage, it’s also time for them to accept that strong regulation
and oversight of their industry is needed to protect us.

[ [link removed] ]Demand that Facebook, LinkedIn, and Venmo send, “cease and desist”
letters to Clearview immediately, in order to protect their users from any
further harm!

Until justice is real,

Brandi, Rashad, Arisha, Johnny, Amanda, Evan, Future, Eesha, Samantha,
Marcus, FolaSade, Jennette, Ciera, and the rest of the Color Of Change
team

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References:

 1. “The Secretive Company That Might End Privacy As We Know It”, The New
York Times, January 21, 2020,
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 2. “Clearview AI Says Its Facial Recognition Software Identified A
Terrorism Suspect. The Cops Say That's Not True,” Buzzfeed News,
January 23, 2020,
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 3. “New Jersey Bars Police From Using Clearview Facial Recognition App,”
The New York Times, January 24, 2020,
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 4. “Rogue NYPD Cops Using Facial-Recognition App Clearview,” ABC14 News,
January 24, 2020,
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[ [link removed] ]Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black
folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. [ [link removed] ]Help
keep our movement strong.

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