Chicago Police Are Using a Facial Recognition Program That Scans Billions of Facebook Photos
The end of privacy as we know it?
(TMU) — Manhattan-based Clearview AI is collecting data from unsuspecting social media users and the Chicago Police Department (CPD) is using the controversial facial recognition tool to pinpoint the identity of unknown suspects, reads a report from the Chicago Sun-Times.
And according to a bombshell New York Times report, it is also being used by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.
The software’s creator, Hoan Ton-That, maintains that it is purely “an after-the-fact research tool for law enforcement, not a surveillance system or a consumer application.” However, privacy advocates are saying this technology is so intrusive and ripe for abuse its use should be immediately halted. And earlier this month, a lawsuit was filed in federal court seeking to do just that.
Chicago attorney Scott Drury who filed the lawsuit describes CPD’s signing of a two-year, $49,875 contract with Illinois tech firm CDW Government to use Clearview AI’s software as “frightening.”
Conversely, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi explains:Get the latest from The Mind Unleashed in your inbox. Sign up right here.
“Our obligation is to find those individuals that hurt other people and bring them to justice. And we want to be able to use every tool available to be able to perform that function, but we want to be able to do so responsibly.”
According to police, some CPD officials at the Crime Prevention and Information Center used the software for two months on a trial basis prior to the signing of the contract in January.Robin Williams’ Net Worth Left His Family in TearspopcornewsFIND OUT MORE >
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