Justin Hendrix Profile picture
Concerned with technology, media & democracy. Editor at @techpolicypress. Research & Adjunct Professor at NYU Tandon School of Engineering. Opinions mine.

Apr 6, 2021, 9 tweets

Emails between NYPD and the controversial facial recognition startup Clearview AI are now in the public domain via a FOIL response on the nonprofit news site @MuckRock. They prompt questions about how the department administers access to the software:
techpolicy.press/emails-between…

For instance, how does NYPD work w/ ICE using facial recognition? NYPD's face recognition policy statement says “Information is not shared in furtherance of immigration enforcement” & “Access will not be given to other agencies for purposes of furthering immigration enforcement.”

Are NYPD officials using Clearview accounts associated with personal email accounts and personal devices?

The emails show an active discussion on how to make Clearview AI's platform conform to legal and policy requirements- Clearview founder Hoan Ton-That promises such upgrades can be made once he secures a contract.

How does NYPD use facial recognition in connection to social media analysis? Emails suggest data from social sites may be employed in facial recognition searches.

In its small way this @techpolicypress post corroborates the @BuzzFeedNews report filed this morning that looks at how law enforcement across the country has used the service with little accountability. @RMac18 @_loganmcdonald @caro1inehaskins @bri_sacks buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanma…

Helpful to have other eyes. I missed this.

Did NYPD use Clearview AI to investigate its own officers? As per @MylesMill this request appears to suggest it was initiated by the head of the department's internal affairs bureau:

BuzzFeed's @caro1inehaskins, on a busy day of reporting on Clearview, focuses on these documents: buzzfeednews.com/article/caroli…

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