Clearview AI: Difference between revisions
m →Other unspecified entities: redundant |
Added archive URLs for 1 citation(s) using CRWCitationBot |
||
| (8 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{StubNotice}}{{CompanyCargo | {{StubNotice}}{{CompanyCargo | ||
|Founded=2017 | |Founded=2017 | ||
|Industry= | |Industry= | ||
|Type=Private | |Type=Private | ||
|Website=https://www.clearview.ai/ | |Website=https://www.clearview.ai/ | ||
|Description=AI facial recognition software company | |Description=AI facial recognition software company | ||
}}'''Clearview AI, Inc.''' is an American facial recognition company, providing software to law enforcement, government agencies, and (previously) private companies. The AI-software matches faces to a database of more than 20 billion images collected from the Internet, including social media applications. The company maintained a low profile until late 2019, when its usage by law enforcement was first reported<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Mac |first=Ryan |date=23 Jan 2020 |title=Clearview AI Says Its Facial Recognition Software Identified A Terrorism Suspect. The Cops Say That's Not True. |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/clearview-ai-nypd-facial-recognition |website=Buzzfeed News}}</ref> | |Logo=Clearview AI logo.svg}} | ||
'''Clearview AI, Inc.''' is an American facial recognition company, providing software to law enforcement, government agencies, and (previously) private companies. The [[Artificial intelligence]] (AI)-software matches faces to a database of more than 20 billion images collected from the Internet, including social media applications. The company maintained a low profile until late 2019, when its usage by law enforcement was first reported.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Mac |first=Ryan |date=23 Jan 2020 |title=Clearview AI Says Its Facial Recognition Software Identified A Terrorism Suspect. The Cops Say That's Not True. |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/clearview-ai-nypd-facial-recognition |website=Buzzfeed News |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260206115226/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/clearview-ai-nypd-facial-recognition |archive-date=6 Feb 2026}}</ref> | |||
The software is purportedly as simple as taking a photo of someone in public, then searching Clearview AI's database of over 3 billion photos which retrieves social media accounts connected to that person from all across the web<ref name=":0" /> | The software is purportedly as simple as taking a photo of someone in public, then searching Clearview AI's database of over 3 billion photos which retrieves social media accounts connected to that person from all across the web.<ref name=":0" /> | ||
Clearview AI was founded by Hoan Ton-That, Charles C. Johnson, and Richard Shwartz. Ton-That is a university dropout who began his career by creating phishing applications and computer worms and was subsequently investigated by police<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Owen |date=22 Jan 2020 |title=The person behind a privacy nightmare has a familiar face |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/The-person-behind-a-privacy-nightmare-has-a-14993625.php |website=San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref> | Clearview AI was founded by Hoan Ton-That, Charles C. Johnson, and Richard Shwartz. Ton-That is a university dropout who began his career by creating phishing applications and computer worms and was subsequently investigated by police.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Owen |date=22 Jan 2020 |title=The person behind a privacy nightmare has a familiar face |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/The-person-behind-a-privacy-nightmare-has-a-14993625.php |website=San Francisco Chronicle |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260107120539/https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/The-person-behind-a-privacy-nightmare-has-a-14993625.php |archive-date=7 Jan 2026}}</ref> Shwartz is a politician who worked for New York mayors Rudy Guiliani and Ed Koch among other politicians.{{Citation needed}} Johnson is a right-wing political activist and possible FBI informant.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Mattathias |date=19 Oct 2023 |title=Exclusive: Tech billionaire Peter Thiel was an FBI informant |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-fbi-informant-charles-johnson-johnathan-buma-chs-genius-2023-10 |website=Business Insider |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260201171649/https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-fbi-informant-charles-johnson-johnathan-buma-chs-genius-2023-10 |archive-date=1 Feb 2026}}</ref> | ||
==Consumer-impact summary== | ==Consumer-impact summary== | ||
| Line 18: | Line 19: | ||
This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]]. | This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]]. | ||
=== | ===Entities reported using Clearview AI (''2020'')=== | ||
{{ | In 2020, Buzzfeed News published a detailed report on the use of Clearview AI<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Mac |first=Ryan |date=27 Feb 2020 |title=Clearview’s Facial Recognition App Has Been Used By The Justice Department, ICE, Macy’s, Walmart, And The NBA |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/clearview-ai-fbi-ice-global-law-enforcement |website=Buzzfeed News |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260206115226/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/clearview-ai-fbi-ice-global-law-enforcement |archive-date=6 Feb 2026}}</ref>, one of the most notable publications that brought the facial recognition company into the public eye{{Citation needed}}. According to the documents, the software has been used by "people in more than 2,200 law enforcement departments, government agencies, and companies across 27 countries"<ref name=":1" />. The following entities were listed as users of Clearview AI at some point in time, some of which have been customers of the software while others without official accounts (e.g. trial periods)<ref name=":1" />. | ||
= | ===='''Private companies'''==== | ||
==='''Private companies'''=== | |||
*[[Walmart]] | *[[Walmart]] | ||
*Macy's | *Macy's | ||
* | *[[Best Buy]] | ||
*Home Depot | *[[Home Depot]] | ||
*Kohl's | *Kohl's | ||
*Rite Aid | *Rite Aid | ||
| Line 41: | Line 36: | ||
*Wells Fargo | *Wells Fargo | ||
*Bank of America | *Bank of America | ||
*AT&T | *[[AT&T]] | ||
*Verizon | *[[Verizon]] | ||
*T-Mobile | *[[T-Mobile]] | ||
*[[wikipedia:Veritone|Veritone]] - an AI software company that tracks characteristics of individuals and vehicles among other AI capabilities {{Citation needed}} | *[[wikipedia:Veritone|Veritone]] - an AI software company that tracks characteristics of individuals and vehicles among other AI capabilities{{Citation needed}} | ||
*NEC's NeoFace WideNet - facial recognition software<ref>{{Cite web |title=NeoFace WideNet - Turn Your Images Into Evidence |url=https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/neoface-widenet-turn-your-images-into-evidence/143012279 |website=NEC on SlideShare}}</ref> | *NEC's NeoFace WideNet - facial recognition software<ref>{{Cite web |title=NeoFace WideNet - Turn Your Images Into Evidence |url=https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/neoface-widenet-turn-your-images-into-evidence/143012279 |website=NEC on SlideShare |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260223035054/https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/neoface-widenet-turn-your-images-into-evidence/143012279 |archive-date=23 Feb 2026}}</ref> | ||
==='''Law enforcement & government entities'''=== | ===='''Law enforcement & government entities'''==== | ||
*New York Police Department (NYPD) | *New York Police Department (NYPD) | ||
| Line 64: | Line 59: | ||
*Interpol | *Interpol | ||
*600+ US police departments | *600+ US police departments | ||
*At least ten fusion centers, including in | *At least ten fusion centers, including in Louisiana and the U.S. Virgin Islands | ||
*White House Tech Office | *White House Tech Office | ||
==='''Police departments'''=== | ===='''Police departments'''==== | ||
Some police departments include (but not limited to) those located in: | Some police departments include (but not limited to) those located in: | ||
| Line 89: | Line 84: | ||
*Bradenton, FL | *Bradenton, FL | ||
===Other unspecified entities=== | ====Other unspecified entities==== | ||
*College security departments | *College security departments | ||
| Line 101: | Line 96: | ||
*Security firms | *Security firms | ||
===Foreign entities=== | ====Foreign entities==== | ||
Clearview AI has consistently maintained its position that it focuses on | Clearview AI has consistently maintained its position that it focuses on consumers in the US and Canada.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Haskins |first=Caroline |date=5 Feb 2020 |title=Clearview AI Wants To Sell Its Facial Recognition Software To Authoritarian Regimes Around The World |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolinehaskins1/clearview-ai-facial-recognition-authoritarian-regimes-22 |website=Buzzfeed News |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260208134904/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolinehaskins1/clearview-ai-facial-recognition-authoritarian-regimes-22 |archive-date=8 Feb 2026}}</ref> Yet, included in Buzzfeed's report are entities in the following locations outside the US and Canada: | ||
*Australia | *Australia | ||
| Line 132: | Line 127: | ||
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]] | [[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]] | ||
[[Category:Surveillance]] | |||
[[Category:Artificial intelligence]] | |||
[[Category:Clearview AI]] | |||