Clearview AI
Clearview AI is an American facial recognition company, providing software to companies, law enforcement, universities, and individuals. The company's algorithm matches faces to a database of more than three billion images indexed from the Internet, including social media applications. Founded by Hoan Ton-That and Richard Schwartz, the company maintained a low profile until late 2019, when its usage by law enforcement was reported on. Multiple reports identified Clearview's association with far-right personas dating back to 2016, when the company claimed to sever ties with two employees.

In January 2020, Twitter sent a cease and desist letter and requested the deletion of all collected data. This was followed by similar actions by YouTube (via Google) and Facebook in February. Clearview sells access to its database to law enforcement agencies for use in cases such as child sexual abuse and has 3,100 active users including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security according to "The Wall Street Journal". However, contrary to Clearview's claims that its service is sold only to law enforcement, a data breach in early 2020 revealed that numerous commercial organizations were on Clearview's customer list. A spokesperson for the company claimed its valuation to be more than $100 million. In 2021,"TIME" magazine named Clearview AI as one of the 100 most influential companies of the year.
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facial recognition
Concept
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law enforcement
Concept
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indexed
Concept
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Hoan Ton-That
PER
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Richard Schwartz
PER
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far-right
Concept
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Twitter
MEDIA
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cease and desist
Concept
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YouTube
MISC
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Google
ORG
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Facebook
MEDIA
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Federal Bureau of Investigation
Concept
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Department of Homeland Security
Concept
Q1172486
data breach
Concept
Q82969314
Clearview AI
ORG
Q82969314
Clearview AI
ORG
2019-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2019
DATE
2016-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2016
DATE
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DATE
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2020
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DATE
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100
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manufacturer
founded by