S.T.O.P. Condemns NYPD Coverup of "Clearview AI" Facial Recognition Program, New Documents Show Extensive Partnership

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For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Condemns NYPD Coverup of ‘Clearview AI’ Facial Recognition Program, New Documents Show Extensive Partnership [NEW YORK, NY, 2/27/2020] -- Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy group, condemned the NYPD for covering up its use of Clearview AI, responding to newly-released company documents that showed the NYPD ran more than 11,000 searches. The NYPD previously denied working with the controversial facial recognition firm, which took photos from millions of Americans without consent to create their tracking tool.   SEE: Clearview’s Facial Recognition App Has Been Used By The Justice Department, ICE, Macy’s, Walmart, And The NBA https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/clearviews-facial-recognition-app-has-been-used-by-the   “The NYPD thinks that it can lie to New Yorkers and not pay a price,” said Albert Cahn, Executive Director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project at the Urban Justice Center. “When reporters asked the NYPD to confirm if they had used Clearview’s facial recognition technology, the Department denied it. Then they said it was just a few free trial accounts. Now we’re learning that the NYPD was the single largest user of Clearview AI. How many times does the NYPD need to lie about facial recognition before the City Council and Mayor take action? How many abuses do we need before elected officials recognize that the NYPD can’t be trusted to police their own surveillance programs?”   The New York privacy group is a lead proponent of the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act, a city council bill that would require privacy protections for all NYPD surveillance programs and databases. The bill, which is sponsored by a majority of the City Council and endorsed by the New York Times, recently had a hearing before the Council’s Public Safety Committee.   SEE: POST Act https://www.stopspying.org/post-act   San Francisco Banned Facial Recognition. New York Isn’t Even Close. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/18/opinion/nypd-post-act-surveillance.html   Cahn continued, “this case highlights that the NYPD has been operating without oversight of its surveillance technology for far too long. This is why we are once again calling on City Council Speaker Cory Johnson to allow an immediate vote on the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act, which has been pending before the Council for 3 years.”   When Buzzfeed first reported on the NYPD’s use of Clearview technology in January, the Department denied that it had been used. However, subsequent reporting by the New York Post confirmed that officers had had access to Clearview’s technology. Today, Buzzfeed reported on new documents that show that the NYPD not only had “a few trial accounts”, but that it was actually a paying customer and the largest single user of Clearview AI.   SEE: Clearview AI Says Its Facial Recognition Software Identified A Terrorism Suspect. The Cops Say That's Not True. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/clearview-ai-nypd-facial-recognition   Rogue NYPD cops are using facial recognition app Clearview https://nypost.com/2020/01/23/rogue-nypd-cops-are-using-sketchy-facial-recognition-app-clearview/   The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider hosted by the Urban Justice Center. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color.   - END –