Clearview's facial recognition software has performed nearly a million searches for US police, said the company's founder to BBC CEO Hoan Ton. It also revealed that Clearview now has 30 billion images that have been removed from platforms such as Facebook, without users' permission.
The company is barred from selling its services to most US companies after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) took Clearview AI to court in Illinois for violating privacy law. But there is an exception for the police, and Mr. Ton-That said his software is used by hundreds of police forces across the US.
Police in the US do not disclose whether they use the software, and its use is prohibited by law in many US cities, including Portland, San Francisco and Seattle.
The use of facial recognition by the police is often told to the public that it is only used for serious or violent crimes.
In a rare interview with law enforcement about Clearview's effectiveness, Miami police said they have used the software for every type of crime, from murders to shoplifting. Deputy Police Chief Armando Aguilar said his team used the system about 450 times a year and that it had helped solve several murders. However, critics say there is no law supporting the use of facial recognition by police.
