ACLU criticizes facial recognition company using photos without permission

The American Civil Liberties Union is joining a list of organizations criticizing a company that works with police departments to track down suspects through facial recognition.

Clearview AI says only law enforcement has access to its database, but the ACLU is worried if it will stop there, or if the company later decides to sell its images to private companies or the public.

Read: Facial recognition technology helps Volusia County make arrests in 4 cases

“That, if we’re not careful, could spell the end of our ability to go about our lives without being watched constantly,” ACLU attorney Nate Freed Wessler said.

As of right now, hundreds of police agencies including some in Central Florida pay to use Clearview AI to try to identify suspects caught on camera.

The Clearview database is comprised of more than two billion photos from public sites like Facebook, Twitter, Venmo and YouTube. Those companies have fired back, saying Clearview took its users’ images without permission.

For some people, that doesn’t sit well.

“It is kind of scary to think about what people could do,” said Charlotte Ford of Oviedo.

Related: Facebook, YouTube: Firm must stop scraping faces from sites

Some cities have decided to draw a line. Last year, San Francisco became the first city to prohibit police from using facial recognition technology.

“It’s really dangerous and it’s not inevitable, and we as a society can decide where to draw the lines,” Freed Wessler said.

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