According to the company’s CEO, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry last week started using Clearview AI’s facial recognition technology. This reportedly happened after the US company offered to track down Russian attackers, combat misinformation and identify the dead.
As reported, Ukraine will get free access to Clearview AI’s face search engine, which can be used to search for people interested in checkpoints, among other things, a Clearview adviser and former under President Barack Obama. According to US diplomat Lee Wolowski.
Preparations reportedly began when Russia invaded Ukraineand Hon Ton-That, CEO of Clearview, addressed a letter to Kyiv offering assistance.
The controversy-ridden company also confirmed it had not supplied the equipment to Russia, which has described its efforts in Ukraine as a “special operation”.
After the declaration of war against Russian President Vladimir Putin UkraineSeveral Western companies have pledged to help Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, including billionaire Elon Musk and Clearview.
According to the founder of Clearview, the company had access to more than 2 billion images in a database of more than 10 billion photos from the Russian social media service VKontakte.
As reported, Clearview’s Ton-That claimed the technology was used to help the government reunite refugees with their families, identify Russian spies, and debunk fake war-related social media posts. can be done. Currently, the specific purpose of the use of the technology by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine is unknown.
clearview controversy
Data protection activists have filed a complaint against Clearview AI in many countries. Protesters in Europe claimed that the software – a search engine for faces that searches through billions of photos – violates strict privacy rules from the United Kingdom and the European Union.
This debate underscores that the development of artificial intelligence technology can lead to unprecedented levels of surveillance.
Hundreds of companies around the world are developing facial recognition software. But no other company has received such criticism as Clearview AI.
The company’s technology is built on a biometric database that contains billions of photos collected from sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
When a paying user uploads a photo, the program returns all other images of that person, along with information about who he or she is most likely to be.
Law enforcement agencies have defended the use of the software to identify child abuse victims and perpetrators, as well as to combat terrorism. It was used by US officials to identify some of the rioters who took part in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. But activists have been warning against human rights abuses caused by technology.
Regulators from Australia to the United States have been investigating Clearview AI’s software since the allegations first surfaced in early 2020. The Privacy Commissioner of Canada decided that its use by the police was a serious breach of privacy regulations.
But nowhere has there been a greater response than in Europe, which prides itself on being a global leader in data security. In the United States, too, the company is facing a lawsuit accusing Clearview of violating privacy rights by taking pictures from the web.
However, the company executive claimed that Clearview should never be used as the sole means of identification and would not want the technology to be used in contravention of the Geneva Conventions, which established the law for humanitarian treatment during war. established guidelines.
According to Ton-That, they UkraineLike other users, a case number and the purpose of the search must be entered before being trained and a query can be made.
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