“If you live in California, under the rules of the newly enacted California Consumer Privacy Act, you can see what Clearview has gathered on you, and request that they stop it,” writes Vice.
I recently did just that… 11 days later, Clearview emailed me back asking for “a clear photo” of myself and a government-issued ID. “Clearview does not maintain any sort of information other than photos,” the company wrote. “To find your information, we cannot search by name or any method other than image. Additionally, we need to confirm your identity to guard against fraudulent access requests. Finally, we need your name to maintain a record of removal requests as required by law.”
After a moment of irritation and a passing desire not to give these people any more of my information, I emailed Clearview a photo of my work ID badge and a redacted copy of my passport. About a month went by, and then I got a PDF, containing an extremely curious collection of images and an explanation that my request for data deletion and opt-out had been processed. “Images of you, to the extent the [sic] we are able to identify them using the image that you have shared to facilitate your request, will no longer appear in Clearview search results,” the “Clearview Privacy Team” wrote…
The images seen here range from around 2004 to 2019; some are from my MySpace profile (RIP) and some from Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. What’s curious is that, according to Clearview, many of them weren’t scraped from social media directly, but from a collection of utterly bizarre and seemingly random websites.
So not just Instagram, but also “sites that have already scraped Instagram, like Insta Stalker.”
Clearview’s clients include the FBI, several police departments, and America’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as Interpol, according to a recent article in Buzzfeed, in addition to top companies like Walmart, Macy’s, Eventbrite, and even Coinbase. Clearview’s web page argues their service “helps to identify child molesters, murderers, suspected terrorists, and other dangerous people quickly, accurately, and reliably to keep our families and communities safe.”
of this story at Slashdot.
Source:: Slashdot