Clearview AI helped lawyers locate a crash witness and exonerate an innocent man

The Clearview AI startup gave a Florida public defender access to its facial-recognition system to locate a witness in the case. The New York Times reports.

According to the publication, in 2017 Andrew Grant Conlin and his friend were involved in a crash. At 100 miles per hour the car struck a tree, sending the driver through the windshield and killing him. Conlin, seated in the passenger seat, lost consciousness. He was rescued by an unidentified passerby, who was released by the police after questioning.

Three years later, prosecutors charged Conlin with a fatal motor-vehicle crash. Investigators alleged that he was the one driving the car.

The defendant’s lawyers tried to locate the witness using the sole image from a patrol officer’s body-worn camera. They used various facial-recognition systems, but to no avail.

Ultimately, attorney Patrick Bailey contacted Clearview AI to help locate the witness. Company representatives said they often receive such letters, but always advise contacting local authorities.

In Conlin’s case, the startup accommodated them. After consulting with lawyers, the firm allowed the attorneys to use the system. A match was found in two seconds.

After questioning the witness, the case was closed.

According to CEO Hoana Ton-Teta, the defense could use the system to level the playing field with prosecutors.

“People would think about this technology quite differently if public defenders also had access to it,” he said.

According to NYT, the company has already begun providing services to lawyers hired by the government to defend the interests of underprivileged clients.

Criminal-law experts have expressed skepticism. Jerome Greco, a representative of the Legal Aid Society in New York, said the company is trying to find a way to justify the use of its system by law enforcement.

The Director of the Center for the Fourth Amendment at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Jumana Musa, said that such a move does not solve ethical issues.

“This won’t make us comfortable with the secrecy surrounding how the tool works,” she said.

However attorney Jonathan Lyon believes the system could be useful for defenders who are trying to locate witnesses.

“From a prosecutor’s perspective, I would find any tool useful, especially if the other side has it. For me, it’s a win,” he said.

In May, Clearview AI announced plans extend its services to banks and the education system.

In March, the startup released an updated version of its facial-recognition system and expanded its image database to 20 billion images.

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