More than 70 American human rights groups have urged the U.S. government to discontinue the use of Clearview AI’s facial-recognition software. The coalition sent a joint letter to the Department of Homeland Security and the White House.
The authors of the appeal cited the recent report, which found that employees from 1803 government agencies used the software without their supervisors’ knowledge.
In addition to the lack of oversight, they cited racial bias in facial recognition algorithms and the fact that the company built its database by collecting photographs and videos from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
“We urge the Biden administration to refrain from awarding any new Clearview AI contracts and to immediately halt any current or future use of the platform by federal agencies, regardless of whether there is a contract with the company,” the rights advocates said in their letter.
They added that “the ongoing violation of Clearview AI’s civil rights” provides a strong basis for ceasing the use of its software.
In March 2021, a group of activists filed a lawsuit in a California court seeking to halt Clearview AI’s activities in the state.
In February, Canadian authorities accused Clearview AI of illegally collecting data on citizens of their country and “recommended” that the company cease providing its services to Canadian clients.
In January, Clearview AI said there had been an increase in the number of requests to the service from law enforcement agencies a day after the crowd of protesters attacked the Capitol in Washington.
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