More than 70 advocacy groups have called on the Department of Homeland Security to stop using Clearview AI facial recognition software. In a letter Addressed to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Susan Rice, Director of the White House Home Policy Council, on American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, OpenMedia and other organizations say that “the use of Clearview AI by federal immigration authorities has not been subject to sufficient oversight or transparency.”
The letter points to a recent BuzzFeed News report who found employees from 1,803 government agencies, including police departments and public schools, used the software without many of their bosses knowing. The company has offered free trials to individual employees of these organizations in the hope that they will advocate for their agency to sign up. In addition to the lack of oversight, the letter highlights issues such as Racial prejudice in facial recognition software and the fact that Clearview built their database by scratching websites Facebook Twitter and Youtube. This is something that put the startup in legal trouble with these companies.
“We call on the Biden administration to refrain from providing new contracts to Clearview AI and that all current or future use of the platform by federal agencies be immediately suspended, regardless of the existence of a contract with the company, ”the coalition said in the letter. “Clearview AI’s continued violation of civil and privacy rights provides good reason to discontinue its use.”
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