(ORDO NEWS) — Clearview AI plans to collect 100 billion photos in its database by the end of the year. The letter to investors notes that this is enough to “identify almost every person on the planet.”
The activities of Clearview AI have already been criticized by human rights activists. The Australian authorities ordered her to remove images of all citizens of the country from her database, despite the fact that the photos were collected from public sources.
Now, the company promises to collect a database of 100 billion images per year, that is, an average of 12 photos for every inhabitant of the planet.
The company collects photos at a fast pace
The December presentation was held as part of attracting investments, so 100 billion photos is more of a goal than a clear plan. However, the presentation says that Clearview has already gained about 10% of the declared number (from 3 billion images to 10 billion since the beginning of 2020) and is adding 1.5 billion photos per month.
The appeal notes that if investors provide another $ 50 million, the company will be able to lobby its interests in the governments of different countries in order to “work out favorable laws.”
How Clearview AI collects photos
Clearview AI creates a database of images taken from social networks and other online resources without the consent of the sites or people in the pictures.
Facebook, Google, Twitter and YouTube have already demanded that the company stop collecting photos from their sites and remove those it has already saved. Clearview representatives refuse to remove the photos and invoke the First Amendment.
The increase in the photobank may be due to the expansion of the business model. Clearview is about to go beyond “face scanning for the police” and is ready to look into the workforce of the gig economy, and is also developing a number of new technologies for identifying moves, determining the location of a person from a photo or scanning fingerprints from afar.
Interesting fact! Clearview provides its services only to government agencies and their representatives.
The US police used its technology to identify rioters during the Black Lives Matter protests and the storming of the Capitol.
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