Law enforcement searches of Clearview AI facial recognition doubled in past year

The number of facial recognition searches law enforcement conducted via controversial Clearview AI technology doubled to 2 million over the past year, the company said Thursday. 

The number of images stored in the company’s database of faces, which is used to compare biometrics, also has surged, now totalling 50 billion, according to a statement from CEO Hoan Ton-That. 

Last November the database contained 40 billion images, Time reported, quoting Ton-That.

Biometric Update first reported the new statistics.

The use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement continues to draw close scrutiny. Some police departments have banned use of the technology, but have been exposed for repeatedly asking nearby departments to run searches on their behalf.

Critics have worried that police will abuse the technology, a fear born out in an Evansville, Indiana, episode earlier this month. An officer there resigned under pressure after officials found he had been using the technology for personal reasons, searching social media accounts.

Earlier this month Clearview preliminarily settled a class action lawsuit accusing it of invading people’s privacy by agreeing to give the class who filed suit and whose faces appear in its database a 23 percent stake in the company. 

The company’s technology is used by federal law enforcement agencies and police departments nationwide. A vast majority of Americans' faces are in the database.