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Clearview AI says its facial recognition is not admissible in court, but law enforcement agencies keep using it.
A judge presiding over a murder trial in the US state of Ohio has thrown out a key piece of evidence, effectively killing any prospect of the trial going forward.
The evidence in question was uncovered via a warrant that cited Clearview AI’s facial recognition software to identify the alleged perpetrator. Police found what they allege was the murder weapon; however, defence attorneys on the case said the search warrant relied on inadmissible evidence.
The judge agreed, and since the suspect arrested via that warrant is the only one, the case is likely over. Prosecutors are seeking an appeal, but given that even Clearview AI said that its facial recognition is not admissible in a court of law, the judge’s decision is likely to stand.
While the events at trial have revealed a lack of regulations and standards among law enforcement in Ohio, it’s not the first time that Clearview AI has made headlines for all the wrong reasons.
In September 2024, the Dutch Data Protection Authority declared the company’s collection of photos from the internet without consent illegal and fined Clearview AI €30.5 million. Clearview called the ruling “unlawful” and “unenforceable” but did not appeal the decision.
Clearview’s database contains more than 50 billion faces scraped from the internet, leading to a stoush between the company and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner in 2021. However, in August of 2024, the OAIC decided to stop pursuing its case, noting that the company was already the focus of “regulatory investigations in at least three jurisdictions around the world as well as a class action in the United States”.
A year before, the Australian Federal Police was revealed to have still been in contact with Clearview AI’s chief executive, despite the information and privacy commissioner ruling that Clearview’s collection practice broke Australian law.
The AFP had been trialling the software since 2020.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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