Ukraine began to use Clearview AI facial recognition software to identify the dead Russian soldiers and the Ukrainians who were killed in the conflict.
Hoan Ton-That, CEO of the company, told Reuters that the Ukraine Ministry of Defense began to use the software in March this year.
The facial recognition system used by Clearview AI is controversial but undeniably effective. With billions of scratched web images, it can identify just about anyone. According to Ton-That, Clearview has no two billion images from a single Russian social media platform-Vkontakte. As Reuters informed, Ton-That sent a letter to the Ukrainian authorities and offered the help of Clearview AI. The letter indicated that this technology could help locate Russian infiltrated agents, bring refugees together with their families and demysonize disinformation. Clearview AI software is reported as very effective, even when facial injuries or decomposition are present.
According to reports, Ukraine now uses this facial recognition software, while the same service has not been extended to Russia. Russia has been largely reprimanded for its illegal annexation and its increasingly brutal tactics which are the subject of an investigation such as potential war crimes. The Russian army attacked not only the Ukrainian army, but also civilians and even the humanitarian corridors that were organized to help people fleeing the conflict. Many private companies have decided to suspend or limit their operations in Russia, and many also provide assistance to Ukraine in areas such as cybersecurity and satellite Internet access.
The help of Clearview AI could help the company, which is used for criticism, to win a positive press. The company has potential far -right links outside of its dystopian and invasive mass data used on the web. “Common Law has never recognized the right to privacy for your face,” said Tor Ekeland, a Clearview AI defender. After helping customers, including the self -proclaimed neonazi troll Andrew auernheimer, Ekeland has gained notoriety as a “troll defender”.
Clearview AI has increasingly agitated the world authorities, who have increasingly tightened their grip on technology. The Office of the Information Commissioner (ICO) in November 2021 inflicted a fine on Clearview AI for more than 17 million pounds sterling and ordered the office to delete the personal information it holds on British citizens and to stop additional treatment. The OAIC has reached the same conclusion as ICO and ordered Clearview Ai to destroy the biometric data it has collected on the Australians and to stop collection. “I find that the act of publishing an image on a social media website does not unambiguously indicate consent to the collection of the image by an unknown third party for commercial use,” said Australian Information Commissioner Angelene Falk at the time.
In the aftermath of the American Capitol raid, Clearview AI boasted that the use of the police of its facial recognition software increased by 26%. Clearview AI activities in Ukraine can be a positive case report, but it is not clear if this is enough to cover confidentiality problems.
