About Face!
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In its latest report in December, facial recognition firm Clearview AI told investors that the company is currently collecting 100 billion photos of human faces for the unprecedented campaign, which will be stored in its dedicated database.
The collection of images - approximately 14 photos for each of the 7 billion people on the entire planet, scraped from social media and other sources - would extensively bolster the company's extensive surveillance system, already the most elaborate of its kind.
The American company headquartered in Manhattan further told investors that its 'index of faces' has grown from 3 billion images to more than 10 billion since the start of 2020.
The firm's technology has already been used by myriad law enforcement and government agencies around the world, helping police make thousands of arrests by aiding in various criminal investigations.
Clearview fills its database by scouring sources like Facebook, YouTube, Venmo and millions of other sites, according to the company.
The company, founded in 2016 by Australian CEO Hoan Ton-That, 34 - and currently valued at more than $100 million - is seeking to expand its facial recognition empire beyond law enforcement.
At the time of the presentation, its data collection system was ingesting 1.5 billion images a month, the company said.
Clearview added that the improved database would help organizations using their tech better monitor 'gig economy' workers, and that it is currently researching a number of new technologies could identify someone based on how they walk, detect their location from a photo, or even scan subjects' fingerprints from afar.
Clearview's technology is being used by private companies, including Macy's, Walmart, BestBuy and the NBA, and even a sovereign wealth fund in the United Arab Emirates, according to a report from BuzzFeed last January.
I don’t think I like our brave new world.
