Clearview AI drops subpoenas of its critics – POLITICO

A big about-face: The Clearview decision represents a major win for civil society groups and researchers focused on bringing transparency and accountability to dealings between the government and the private sector. Those groups had argued that the legal mandates were a tactic to dissuade advocacy groups from further investigating the company or others like it, and could undermine press freedom by targeting journalists and their sources.

A controversial technology: Facial recognition tools have long been under scrutiny by privacy and civil rights advocates whove raised alarm about biases with the technology generally and the disproportionate harm it can cause to marginalized communities.

After 2019 research from Open The Government shed light on police use of this surveillance including Clearviews tech and later prompted reporting on the startup, the software firm now finds itself tangled in multidistrict consumer privacy litigation in Illinois.

The debate over the subpoenas: The subpoenas included demands for communications with journalists about Clearview and its leaders, as well as information theyd uncovered about the company and its founders in public records requests.

Clearview's attorney Andrew J. Lichtman said previously that the subpoenas were served as part of its defense in the litigation in Illinois. But that case does not appear to involve Open The Government or the other parties subpoenaed, and Clearview would not explain how the groups' correspondence with journalists would be in any way relevant.

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Clearview AI drops subpoenas of its critics - POLITICO