One of the biggest blows yet has been suffered by America's creepiest facial recognition company. As part of a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union, Clearview will be permanently banned from selling access to its faceprint database to most businesses across the country. Privacy experts claim that the BIPA offers some of the strongest protections in the nation, and those sweeping restrictions are the result of a lengthy legal battle. This settlement shows that strong privacy laws can provide real protections against abuse, by requiring Clearview to comply with the law in Illinois. Other companies would be wise to take note, and other states should follow the lead of Illinois. Under the new restrictions, Clearview can't give state or local law enforcement access to its services for the next five years, and it can't sell its face data to most private entities nationwide. Illinois residents can request to have images of themselves blocked from appearing in Clearview search results by using an opt-out request form. $50,000 will be spent on ads to promote the op-out form. The company will have to find a way to remove photos taken in Illinois. The settlement will force Clearview to stop giving free trial accounts to police officers without their knowledge. Some 2,000 U.S. taxpayer-funded agencies, many of which are local law enforcement, are clients of Clearview. The settlement won't ban federal agencies and local police departments in states other than Illinois from working with Clearview. The effects of this settlement will be felt more broadly if state legislators push for similar privacy-protecting laws. Federal privacy legislation has been stuck in the stage for a long time.
Privacy experts view the settlement as a type of watershed moment for consumer privacy.
There is a battle being fought in courtrooms and statehouses across the country about who is going to control the technology that can track people.
This is a milestone for civil rights, and the ACLU deserves our thanks for once again protecting our Constitution, according to Albert Fox Cahn.
The company did not respond to the request for comment.
There is a growing chorus of calls from regulators and activists to rein in Clearview's power. The Departments of Justice, Defense, Homeland Security, and the Interior received letters from a group of Democratic lawmakers urging them to stop using the software. The lawmakers warned that the service could eliminate the idea of public anonymity.
Clearview's troubles are not limited to the U.S. Privacy watchdogs in France, Austria, Italy, Greece and the United Kingdom have accused the company of violating European data protection laws. Australia, where CEO Hoan Ton-That grew up, took the biggest step by a country so far and forced Clearview to stop collecting facial images and face templates from the country. Clearview retreated from Canada a year prior to that after a pair of federal investigations into the business.
Fox Cahn said that the settlement's success points to the need for more states to pass privacy legislation similar to Illinois' BIPA.
Fox Cahn said that a national ban is needed, and that Illinois has been ahead of the curve. It is only a matter of weeks before police use technology to enforce abortion laws. We shouldn't allow this sort of technology to be used to target pregnant people.
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