Clearview hires DC lobbyists to educate on face biometrics technology

A lobbying firm founded by former Senate aides has been hired by Clearview AI to carry out “education around facial recognition technology”, according to a disclosure filing.

The Klein/Johnson Group was founded by former aides to Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and John Cornyn (R-Texas). In addition to Israel Klein and Matthew Johnson, the form names Brian Greer, who has worked for Schumer, and Ian Rayder, who has worked for House Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), former chair of the Democratic National Committee, as the firm’s lobbyists.

The Klein/Johnson Group website includes testimonial from Oracle EVP Kevin Glueck, who calls it “a lobbying dream team,” and lists strategic consulting and crisis management as specialties, along with government relations. The firm was founded in 2017.

A bill introduced in April by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rand Paul (R-KY) and titled ‘The Fourth Amendment is Not for Sale Act of 2021’, would bar Clearview and any company that obtains data from personal accounts or devise without the owner’s consent from selling the data to government agencies.

Clearview is also fighting a consolidated biometric data privacy lawsuit and critics are demanding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cease all use of the app.

Article Topics

biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  Clearview AI  |  education  |  facial recognition  |  government purchasing  |  legislation  |  U.S. Government