Biometrics match the innocent, US Congress asks questions

A U.S. senator is asking questions about how Clearview AI operates its facial recognition subscription service.

Ed Markey, a Democrat from the state of Massachusetts, yesterday sent 11 questions to Clearview CEO Hoan Ton-That seeking greater transparency on topics like algorithm training and, more important right now, demographic data involved in client searches.

In the press release announcing his pop quiz, Markey mentions the arrest almost exactly a year ago of a Black man allegedly based only on Clearview’s subscription service.

Several weeks ago, a Georgia resident named Randal Quran Reid (who prefers to go by Quran), sued officials in the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana for using biometrics to violate his civil rights last November.

Quran was held without bond for six days as a suspect in felony bank fraud and ID theft charges stemming from a theft in Louisiana. He ultimately was able to convince officials that he was in Georgia when the theft occurred and was released.

In his suit, Quran alleges that the Louisiana sheriff’s office used facial recognition software without any other evidence to identify the plaintiff based on CCTV video. He is suing for unspecified damages.

Quran is one of a growing number of people of color being picked erroneously up by police in the United States based at least in part on face biometrics matches.

The Jefferson Parish sheriff’s office used Clearview’s subscription service, for which it has paid $25,000 a year since 2019, to come up with the match. The company says its user guidelines warn against using the service as the only evidence to prompt a warrant.

Markey is familiar with Clearview’s business and with the issue of facial recognition used by police. He has yet to have notable success in regulating that use.

His release says he has sounded alarms, raised concerns, sent letters, pressed for answers and reintroduced failed legislation.

For his part, Ton-That commented to Biometric Update about the senator’s questions, saying that he appreciates Markey’s interest.

“We comply with all standards of privacy and law,” he wrote in an email. “We look forward to continuing our conversations with policy makers.”

“More than one million searches have been conducted using Clearview AI.  One false arrest is one too many, and we have tremendous empathy for the person who was wrongfully accused,” he adds.

“Even if Clearview AI came up with the initial result, that is the beginning of the investigation by law enforcement to determine, based on other factors, whether the correct person has been identified.”

This post was updated at 9:14am Eastern on November 22, 2023 to include comment from Clearview AI on the false arrest.

Article Topics

accuracy  |  biometric matching  |  biometrics  |  Clearview AI  |  demographic fairness  |  facial recognition  |  false arrest  |  police  |  United States