Even a small win for digital privacy can mean a lot.
The terms of a settlement filed Monday in federal court prohibit the sale of tools by the facial-recognition company which made headlines in January of 2020 for secretly scraper billions of photos from social media sites. The settlement only applies to most private companies, and does not block sales to law enforcement in the state of Illinois.
The suit was filed on behalf of vulnerable communities, such as survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, who were harmed by face recognition.
The 2008 Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), which explicitly precludes private companies from acquiring state residents without prior notification and consent, is at issue. The company is alleged to have violated the law by using the internet to get people's photos.
In May of 2020, Clearview claimed that it would stop working with private companies. Businesses have used the tech in some capacity before.
The settlement, which still needs to be approved by the court, was hailed by organizations advocating on behalf of people's digital privacy. The fight is not over. Albert Fox Cahn made it clear in a statement that Monday's limited ban is only the first step.
This is a milestone for civil rights, and the ACLU deserves our thanks for once again protecting our Constitution.
While exploiting billions of secretly copied photos for profit just got marginally more difficult, without federal privacy protections, Clearview remains free to sell facial-recognition technology to police departments across most of the country.
We will take Monday's win, however small.
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