Ukraine is given tools to uncover Russian intruders, identify dead people and deal with misinformation

Clearview AI, one face recognition company, has provided its services to the Ukrainian government free of charge. These services can help the country spot Russian intruders, identify dead people and deal with misinformation.

It is said that the company offers a searchable database of 10 billion faces. This database is pulled from the web, with technology that has previously been subject to fines from industry regulators.

How can the tool be used?

Clearview AI’s offer was sent to the Ukrainian government in a letter, first reported by Reuters. In it, the company claims a large amount of its face database has been pulled from social media platforms in Russia, with more than two billion images from what is known as “Russian Facebook” – Vkontakte .

The letter details a number of situations where Clearview AI technology could be used, including those previously mentioned (identifying intruders, identifying dead people, handling misinformation) deviance) as well as reuniting families without their paperwork.

Clearview AI has faced criticism from privacy watchdogs and was fined including a £17 million settlement in November from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and €20 million. by Italian regulatory authorities.

Concerns have also been reported about whether the technology could backfire; whether it could potentially misidentify people at checkpoints and as Albert Fox Cahn of the Surveillance Technology Surveillance Project commented to Reuters “Hurting the very people it’s supposed to help.”