The company says the pictures it gathers arepublicly available and thus should be fair game.
But the approach has prompted cease-and-desist letters fromFacebook,Twitterand others.
And officials inAustralia,BritainandCanadahave called out the company over data privacy laws, as well.
Politico points out thatClearview AI’s patent applicationcontains language that suggests uses beyond police identifying suspects.
Facial recognition systems in general have been criticized for inaccuracy that’s sometimes led tofalse arrestsandother problems.
In particular, the systems have had trouble when it comes to recognizing people of color and women.
Lawmakers are stillwrestlingwith how best to regulate facial recognition.
In the US, ahandfulofstatesand somecitieshave rules, but there aren’t yet any federal laws governing the technology.
That’s despite the fact that the systems are widespread and a growing number of US agencies use them.
Read more:Amazon pauses sales of facial recognition software to police indefinitely
