Monday, December 4, 2023
 
 

Facebook demands Clearview stop scraping images for facial recognition tech

EPA-EFE/FELIPE TRUEBA
A view of a detail of a screen as part of an interactive installation that illustrates the 'big data' used by multinational and provided by its clients, in the German Spy Museum in Berlin, Germany, 01 March 2018. The German Spy Museum gives an insight into the history of espionage. The exhibition shows from the ancient spying devices to the most recent surveillance techniques. German media report on a successful cyber attack on German security networks including the German Ministries for Defense and Foreign Affairs.

- Advertisement -

Facebook has warned US-based tech company Clearview AI to stop using data scraped from its social networks for its facial recognition database.
“Scraping people’s information violates our policies, which is why we’ve demanded that Clearview stop accessing or using information from Facebook or Instagram”, a Facebook spokesperson said.
YouTube, Twitter and payment service Venmo also joined in demanding an end to Clearview’s practice of scraping social media and other platforms for images. Clearview has drawn controversy following investigative reports that found it was working with law enforcement agencies.
“Scraping Venmo is a violation of our terms of service and we actively work to limit and block activity that violates these policies”, a Venmo spokesman said.
“YouTube’s Terms of Service explicitly forbid collecting data that can be used to identify a person. Clearview has publicly admitted to doing exactly that and in response, we sent them a cease and desist letter”, a YouTube spokesman said.
Clearview CEO Hoan Ton-That defended the company’s practices, saying the technology is only used by law enforcement to identify potential criminals: “The way we have built our system is to only take publicly available information and index it that way”, he said.
Experts say that without explicit permission to use the photos it relies on, Clearview may be a subject of legal challenges and will likely end up in court.

- Advertisement -

Subscribe to our newsletter

Latest

US-Central Asia relations: It’s time for a Green 5+1

During the United Nations General Assembly in September, a...

Ukraine, Middle East will dominate Cameron’s UK foreign policy agenda

David Cameron, who was made Foreign Secretary in a...

What will it take to prevent a Gaza reconstruction fiasco?

Let us be unequivocal about the current war between...

Don't miss

US-Central Asia relations: It’s time for a Green 5+1

During the United Nations General Assembly in September, a...

Ukraine, Middle East will dominate Cameron’s UK foreign policy agenda

David Cameron, who was made Foreign Secretary in a...

What will it take to prevent a Gaza reconstruction fiasco?

Let us be unequivocal about the current war between...

Ukraine’s persecuted mayor

Lest it be forgotten, the major thematic issue in...

What will it take to prevent a Gaza reconstruction fiasco?

Let us be unequivocal about the current war between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas - the latter declared this war on Israeli...

Ukraine’s persecuted mayor

Lest it be forgotten, the major thematic issue in post-Maidan and pre-war Ukraine was, and continues to be, the transformation of Ukrainian society along...

Cameron’s return as Foreign Secretary raises UK’s international profile

David Cameron, who was made foreign secretary in a surprise move by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during his cabinet reshuffle on November 13, brings...

Russia’s powerful economic levers over Armenia

Armenia's relations with its strategic partner Russia are getting worse and worse and its leaders seem to desire a shift in geopolitical orientation towards the West....

New US actions against corruption and Russian malign influence in the Western Balkans

On November 16, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, known by its acronym OFAC, designated eight individuals and six...

Rebuilding Ukraine: Opportunities and concerns for foreign businesses

Such is the scale of the effort required to rebuild Ukraine that the World Bank in March 2023 estimated it at $411 billion. That...

Why China’s new map has stirred regional tensions

In the waning days of summer, closely following a BRICS summit and mere days ahead of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Group...

Kazakhstan accelerating efforts to expand the strategic Middle Corridor

The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, which is frequently referred to as the Middle Corridor, is a multilateral institutional development project linking the containerized rail...