John,
Clearview AI, the creepiest facial recognition tool out there (and that’s saying something), recently announced they will no longer share their product with private entities.1
This is great news—it means that this tool, which uses facial recognition to identify people from millions of images scraped from all corners of the Internet—won’t be used by major retailers, restaurants, event venues, or workplaces, including Macy’s, Walmart, Bank of America, and Target (all companies that have used Clearview before).
Clearview’s decision is in response to months of criticism and legal actions, including lawsuits against the company by people in Illinois who are protected by a state law that makes it illegal for companies to collect biometric data.
This gives us a strategy for taking down Clearview, and other facial recognition companies threatening to gather your biometric data: we need to pass more state laws that make it illegal.
Can you chip in right now to help win local fights to protect your biometric data, and stop facial recognition, in all 50 states?
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This Illinois law—the Biometric Information Privacy Act, or BIPA—not only protects against companies collecting individuals’ biometric data, but it also allows individuals to sue companies that violate the law. This is key. This provision has allowed people in Illinois to sue Clearview for collecting their personal information, and these lawsuits have pushed Cleraview to significantly reduce their business model.
Prior to this decision, Clearview was trying to expand in every way possible. As of February, Clearview’s documents showed that it had been used by more than 2,200 law enforcement agencies, companies, and individuals around the world.2
And right now Clearview is in talks with state and federal authorities about ways to use its facial recognition tool to augment contact tracing in response to COVID-19.3
Clearview will try to expand its reach as far as possible, unless we do something to stop them. We need to start building support in states to pass more laws to stop Clearview, and other facial recognition companies.
We have a plan to take down Clearview, but we need to know we have your support. Chip in right now and fight with us against Clearview and against facial recognition.
Against Clearview,
Caitlin at Fight for the Future
Footnotes:
1. Buzzfeed News: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/clearview-ai-no-facial-recognition-private-companies
2. Buzzfeed News: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/clearview-ai-fbi-ice-global-law-enforcement
3. NBC News: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/facial-recognition-company-wants-help-contact-tracing-senator-has-questions-n1197291
Fight for the Future works to protect your rights in the digital age.
