According to the report, the face database used by the Ukrainian side is called Clearview AI and belongs to a technology company headquartered in the United States. So far, Clearview AI has created over 200 accounts for five Ukrainian government agencies. The accounts are understood to have been searched more than 5,000 times through the platform.
In this regard, some security experts said that this is the first time that such a large-scale face recognition technology has been applied to military conflicts, which means that in future military operations, it will be increasingly difficult to keep the identities of military personnel secret.
It is reported that Clearview AI is an intelligence platform based on network information, known as providing the most cutting-edge technology for law enforcement to help public safety and investigate crimes. According to its official website, the company has collected tens of billions of facial images from all internet platforms.
However, the feature that “personal information can be instantly searched through photos” has also aroused public concerns. Critics argue that the technology violates public privacy and could have horrific consequences due to a lack of regulation. According to foreign media reports, Clearview AI is considered illegal in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and other countries due to “collecting photos of others without their consent.” In addition, the company faces several lawsuits in the United States.
Open database to Ukraine Opponents: Attempt to rationalize its aggression
According to reports, Clearview AI will first “grab” face photos on social media accessible to the public and store them in its database; second, create biometric identifiers to digitally express each face picture; third , which allows users to upload pictures, match and compare with biometric identifiers in the database; finally, provides a sequence of alignment results, including all aligned photos and data, if the user clicks on any of the results, the software can guide them to the source file of the photo. The company’s CEO, Joan Tong Dett, said that users can use the platform to instantly identify relevant personal information through a photo.
According to foreign media reports, Dwight has previously taken the initiative to open the face database to the Ukrainian government department, which contains 2 billion pictures collected from Russian social platforms. Through the search engine provided by Clearview AI, the Ukrainian side can identify Russian agents, screen for misinformation and confirm the identity of the deceased. According to US media, Hoan tried to contact relevant personnel of the Ukrainian government in early March and drafted a letter describing the advantages of the platform. “I would love to help Ukraine,” he said.
According to reports, Ukrainian authorities obtained two photos of the dead Russian soldiers on March 21, local time. One of the soldiers had no identification marks on his body, so the Ukrainian side searched him through the Clearview AI platform, found the social platform account of the suspected man, and found a picture of the man wearing a military uniform on his social platform. , a photo of holding a gun, confirming that the man is from Ulyanovsk, Russia. The Ukrainian side then contacted his family and informed him that the man had died, but there was no reply from the family at that time.
Peter Singer, a security researcher at Washington-based think tank New America, said this is the first time that facial recognition technology on such a large scale has been used in a military conflict. “This means that it will be increasingly difficult to keep the identities of military personnel secret in future military operations,” he said.
Singer believes that with the development of technology, everyone may leave a trace on the Internet. As long as traces are left, the relevant data will be recorded. The use of facial recognition may speed up the tracking of criminals by authorities, but it may also make it difficult for ordinary people to function in normal social settings, he said.
On the other hand, critics have warned that tech companies could use the conflict to expand rapidly with little regulation. If someone maliciously uses this technology, it will cause very serious consequences.
Evan Greer, head of the digital rights group Fight for the Future, strongly opposes the use of facial recognition technology. She believes that this technology should be banned worldwide, once advanced technology falls into the wrong hands, it will pose a threat to the public. “Conflict areas are often used as testing grounds for surveillance tools that have proven to end up being used on ordinary people,” Greer said. “Clearview AI is so eager to exploit the Ukraine crisis to try to make its platform more effective.” Aggressive rationalization.”
Critics also point out that using the technology in conflict could have dire consequences. The technology can indeed identify relevant people at checkpoints, but it can also lead to deaths without timely reporting of false positives. Toler, from the Western investigative journalism agency Bellingcat, pointed out that the technology is not perfect, nor can it be 100% accurate. “The technology is prone to false positives, and in a military conflict, the accuracy of the information is what matters,” he said.
Involved in illegal collection of personal data, has been punished in many countries
Clearview AI has also been sued in the United States for allegedly violating the privacy of others. At least three lawsuits have been filed against the company in Illinois alone, according to reports, for Clearview AI’s apparent violation of the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act. The company has also faced lawsuits in Virginia, New York, and more. Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has also explicitly asked Clearview AI to stop accessing its data.
It is also reported that the Los Angeles Police Department in 2020 banned officers from using facial recognition systems provided by commercial companies, including Clearview AI, despite the company’s stated commitment to providing technical support to law enforcement, and the attorney general of New Jersey said that Directly ordered a ban on the use of Clearview AI.
In February 2021, an investigation report on Clearview AI jointly sponsored by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and the personal information protection agencies of Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta pointed out that its facial recognition tool violated the provisions of the Canadian Personal Information Protection Act. requirements for uniformity and proper purpose. Experts pointed out that Clearview AI indiscriminately grabs face photos from websites, which is an unreasonable way to collect information.
According to foreign media reports, because Clearview AI violated relevant privacy laws, the Italian data protection agency has also fined the company 20 million euros for its actions and ordered the company to delete all data about Italians in its database. It is reported that in addition to violating relevant privacy laws, Clearview AI has also been tracking Italian citizens and people located in Italy.
An investigation found that the company illegally obtained and processed a number of personal data, including personal location information, in violation of relevant data protection regulations. According to foreign media, this is the strongest action ever taken by a European privacy watchdog.
The French National Commission for Freedom of Information (CNIL) previously ordered the company to stop processing citizens’ data and gave it a two-month deadline to delete citizens’ information from its database. In addition, the United Kingdom has also warned or will impose a fine on the company and asked it to immediately stop processing related data.
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