Only one state in the union has laws concerning biometric privacy, and the fate of American privacy could be hanging in the balance as they determine whether facial recognition surveillance crosses the line of legality.
If you post your pictures on the Internet, you may have ended up being identified by facial recognition … without your permission.
The company behind this questionable practice, Clearview AI, is being sued by the ACLU, but the suit will be adjudicated in Illinois, because that is the only state with biometric laws.
So this is ridiculous on two levels…
First, because of the obviously blatant violation of your privacy. Second, because 49 out of the 50 U.S. states don’t have laws to regulate this conduct.
The ACLU stated, “Clearview’s face surveillance activities violate the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), and represent an unprecedented threat to our security and safety.”
Clearview AI didn’t disclose its privacy violations on its own. According to an article on CNET:
Clearview AI had been forced out of the shadows after a profile by The New York Times in January, which detailed how the company planned to use facial recognition to identify people in real time. It’s able to do that through its massive database of people’s photos, which it gathered on social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn without those people’s consent.
Doesn’t sound like a company you’d want to do business with, does it? But it gets worse…
Any of Clearview’s paying customers who don’t know you could pull a picture of yours off of social media, upload it to their database, and automatically get matching pictures from their database.
So any Clearview AI customer can enjoy “pay to play” facial recognition with your pictures in real-time. The ACLU explained the issue at the center of these revelations:
By building a mass database of billions of faceprints without our knowledge or consent, Clearview has created the nightmare scenario that we’ve long feared, and has crossed the ethical bounds that many companies have refused to even attempt. Neither the United States government nor any American company is known to have ever compiled such a massive trove of biometrics.
But what it can’t do is capture our faceprints — uniquely identifying biometrics — from those photos without consent.
In spite of this, Clearview has been caught offering its facial surveillance tools to companies like Walmart.
This Affects You Even If You’ve “Done Nothing Wrong”…
The presumption that you’ve done nothing wrong, and therefore have nothing to hide, is a dangerous premise upon which to base a person’s right to privacy.
It relies on the fact that someone’s right to privacy only conceals “bad things.” Your right to privacy also means you have a right to keep your image, text, and other data out of the hands of bad people.
If someone could pay Clearview AI to accumulate all the pictures of you in the blink of an eye, without your knowledge, then that person assumes some control over who you are digitally. This is no different than the NSA having the ability to build a believable fiction out of metadata.
They can use those images to paint a picture of you any way they see fit, before you have a chance to defend yourself. Keep in mind, those “bad people” could also include law enforcement.
The point is, your facial image can be used against you. And allowing companies to profit from the use of our “facial fingerprints” without our permission could lead to big problems down the road.
If you want to circumvent this problem entirely, the best action to take is to remove as much of your personal information from the Internet as possible.
How to Remove Yourself from Public Databases
It should be clear from the above that your facial images and other private Internet data can be used to track your exact location, eating habits, spending habits, your income, your online habits, and many other parts of your private life.
With just a few clicks, a phone call, and a few dollars almost everything a Government agency like the IRS wants to find out about you can quickly be put together into a complete file.
That’s why I want to tell you about our popular “Go Off the Grid” report, which is your blueprint for living a truly private life.
You will discover:
- How to protect yourself online.
- How to get your name out of public databases.
- How to make your physical and digital assets invisible to prying eyes.
- Ensure your vehicle ownership is 100% untraceable.
- How to make your wealth completely anonymous.
But that’s not all, inside the report you’ll also find the following gems…
- DO THIS NOW: The one thing almost no one does to properly hide their home address, and it has nothing to do with getting a PO Box. (page 4).
- The “privacy veil” you can set up with a few clicks that renders you practically anonymous — and helps you slash your taxes. (page 24)
- Secure your phone number and your calls from snoops and credit agencies in minutes with this “Smart” blueprint. (page 13)
- The secret “shield” that makes your home, car, and other assets practically lien proof. You’ll be able to “set it once and forget it.” (page 16)
- The digital “Ghost” that can protect you online, make your digital footprints disappear, and even save you money on airplane tickets. (page 19)
- And more… including how to legally remove yourself from the banking system.
If you are serious about protecting your privacy from irresponsible companies, the Government, and other snoops, then you don’t want to miss this valuable report…
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To living privately,
Bobby Casey
Location Independent Entrepreneur
P.S. They might already have a few pictures of you in their database, but you can stop them from getting more. You need to read my report before it’s too late…
Inside you’ll discover how to go completely “off the grid,” without having to move out to a cabin in Montana. In fact, you won’t even have to leave your couch.
