Senator wants to know if police are using Clearview to ID protesters

Enlarge / Police using facial recognition software could possibly identify thousands of Americans nationwide as participants in protests against police brutality and overreach. Including this group in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on June 5. (credit: Scott Olson | Getty Images)

Secretive facial-recognition firm Clearview AI is facing new questions from lawmakers, in addition to lawsuits, as concerns about its software are amplified during the wave of nationwide protests against police brutality.

Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) today demanded to know what law enforcement agencies are working with Clearview potentially to identify protesters who are out in support of black communities and against police violence. "As demonstrators across the country exercise their First Amendment rights by protesting racial injustice, it is important that law enforcement does not use technological tools to stifle free speech or endanger the public," Markey wrote in a letter to Clearview (PDF). "The risk of such omnipresent surveillance also runs the risk of deterring Americans from speaking out."

Law enforcement agencies in several cities where protests have taken place are using digital surveillance tools. According to a BuzzFeed report, many law enforcement agencies in and near Minneapolis-where current national protests began after police were recorded killing George Floyd-use Clearview and other similar platforms to identify individuals.

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