In a ruling on Wednesday, Canada's privacy commissioners have ruled that Clearview's Facial Recognition AI is mass surveillance and violates individual privacy rights. Commissioners have ordered the company to delete images from its database.
Clearview has been the subject of investigations for its practices, including the controversial scraping images from social media profiles. Clearview argues that facial images on social media is publicly available information. While the company has agreed to stop offering its services in Canada, it has not agreed to remove the faces.
Companies like Clearview aim to profit by, and assist law enforcement agencies in solving tough cases. It saw a 26% spike on January 7th, the day after a mob of rioters raided the US Capitol, as law enforcement officials sought to track down the perpetrators.
This is a certainly a thought-provoking topic, and prompts questions about where to draw the line between protecting individual privacy rights vs public safety and bringing criminals to justice. What do you think?
https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/4/22266055/clearview-facial-recognition-illegal-mass-surveillance-canada-privacy