Up front:The suit was filed in 2020 by the ACLU.
It alleged that Clearview AI had failed to comply with the Illinois biometric information privacy act (BIPA).
This, of course, doesnt stop Clearview from working with government entities outside of Illinois.
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We would only sell to private entities in a manner that complies with BIPA.
Our database is only provided to government agencies for the purpose of solving crimes.
Background:Clearview AIs legal team has been fighting off lawsuits like this since day one.
And its CEO is certainly aware of the ever-dwindling stomach for public-facing facial recognition systems.
Thats why ithad already stoppedthird-party sales of itsdatabasesprior to the settlement.
And, per the terms of that ruling, it will almost certainly continue to sell itsalgorithmsto third-party companies.
But Clearview AI was never set up to be the worlds best company at selling facial recognition systems.
Arguably, the only out the companys ever had is snagging lucrative government contracts.
And thats something its also been doing since day one.
Lukewarm take:This is more of the same, and trending poorly for privacy.
The gist of the problem is that Clearview AI provides a service the US government wants.
And, color me shocked, but it turns outthe US doesnt regulateAI.
The suppression of civil rights and privacy requiresan asymmetrical technological order.
And if you think youve got nothing to hide, you shouldread this.
