Security News > 2020 > November > LAPD Bans Facial Recognition, Citing Privacy Concerns

At issue is the fact that Clearview uses photos from social media and other publicly available sources, without consent, in violation of what some say are basic privacy rights.

ACLU has taken Clearview AI to court over privacy issues.

The move by LAPD to ban the use of Clearview will no doubt be viewed as a victory by such groups in the long-simmering debate over facial recognition.

On Jan. 27, the company issued "The Clearview AI Code of Conduct" stating that its search engines are "Available only to law-enforcement agencies and select security professionals." It's unclear what happens if banning the service from being used in law enforcement becomes more widespread. "The LAPD had a trial of Clearview AI as have many other law-enforcement agencies around the country," Clearview AI CEO Hoan Ton-That said in a statement given to Threatpost.

Federal Law Plays Catch-Up. Last August, a bill called the National Biometric Information Privacy Act was introduced in the Senate, which would extend those same biometric protections already passed in Illinois to the entire U.S. But until the federal laws catch up, tech giants Microsoft, Amazon and IBM pledged last June not to sell facial recognition to police departments.

News URL

https://threatpost.com/lapd-facial-recognition-privacy-concerns/161364/