The New York-based high-tech company Clearview AI made headlines last year when it was first reported that the facial recognition firm – with its mammoth three-billion photograph database – kicked off providing services to law enforcement agencies.
Clearview cofounder, Hoan Ton-That, 31, during a recent interview with CNN Business, showed how Clearview’s algorithm breaks privacy settings on social media. The program easily identified a CNN staffer by using several Instagram photos which had been kept behind normal privacy settings.
Ton-That remarked that the Clearview AI had probably downloaded the photos from her account, before they were tagged private.
The appalling size of the Clearview database also made it possible, during another demonstration, to find a photo from a newspaper with a 15-year-old boy and to match it to the current appearance of the CNN reporter.
Ton-That claimed that, despite fears of privacy violation, the company uses its powerful facial recognition technology only for criminal investigations.
According to the Clearview website, the technology has “helped law enforcement track down hundreds of at-large criminals, including pedophiles, terrorists and sex traffickers”.
Despite a declaration of goodwill and its role in crime-fighting, the use and sale of the Clearview AI product raises serious privacy concerns.
“The weaponization possibilities of this are endless. Imagine a rogue law enforcement officer who wants to stalk potential romantic partners, or a foreign government using this to dig up secrets about people to blackmail them or throw them in jail”, Eric Goldman, co-director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University in California, said, cited by The New York Times.
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal reportedly instructed prosecutors across the state to stop using Clearview AI, despite the company’s claim that its product assisted in successfully investigating a child predator ring.
“I was deeply disturbed […] I was concerned about how Clearview had amassed its database of images that it uses with its technology. I was concerned about its data privacy and cybersecurity measures that it takes”, Grewal said, cited by CNN Business.
If you want to protect yourself and your data. It is important to order a photo shoot from a professional who would secure your privacy and whose professionalism on a website https://esquirephotos.com/headshots/business-headshots/ you can be sure of.
Our team of brilliant photographers are based across the USA. All managed by our central head office. Our typical clients include businesses in the finance, legal and professional services industries. Many with multiple office locations. Services include headshot shoots for large company teams. Headshots to add value to your conference, event or exhibition. And individual studio shoots. Contact us to chat about how you can improve the FACE of your business.
Your headshot is your best tool to attract new clients and present yourself to the world. It’s all about crafting visual imagery that feels uniquely, authentically you. It’s about showcasing yourself in the best light to attract opportunities, progress your career, and build the relationships that take you higher. Once you have that headshot to work with, there are many ways to apply it and use it to open doors and reveal opportunities.
