ABSTRACT
Until now, technology that readily identifies everyone based on his or her face has been taboo because of its radical erosion of privacy. Tech companies capable of releasing such a tool have refrained from doing so; in 2011, Google's chairman at the time said it was the one technology the company had held back because it could be used “in a very bad way.” Clearview has shrouded itself in secrecy, avoiding debate about its boundary-pushing technology. Facial recognition technology has always been controversial. It makes people nervous about Big Brother. Clearview's app carries extra risks because law enforcement agencies are uploading sensitive photos to the servers of a company whose ability to protect its data is untested.
