Facial recognition technology helps Volusia County make arrests in 4 cases

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Thanks to facial recognition technology, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office was able to make four arrests out of 30 cases last year.

The Sheriff’s Office is using a database of more than 2 billion photos including those on social media and other public sites.

Read: Florida law enforcement agencies use facial recognition to identify alleged thief

The department purchased a license to give the new technology a try for one year. It was purchased for $10,000 from a company called Clearview AI.

“You give away your privacy when you sign up on Facebook and put all your business out there,” Sheriff Michael Chitwood said. “When you go to the airport, when you go to Publix, when you go to Walmart, when you go through a toll booth -- you’re being scanned.”

The technology, however, will not rely on driver’s license photos or photos tagged private.

Video: Twitter orders company licensing facial recognition software to police agencies to stop Clearview AI has the largest facial recognition database and shares its photos with about 600 police agencies.

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