aclu
Latest
Detroit police can no longer use facial recognition results as the sole basis for arrests
The Detroit Police Department has to adopt new rules curbing its reliance on facial recognition technology after the city reached a settlement this week with Robert Williams, a Black man who was wrongfully arrested in 2020 due to a false face match.
Cheyenne MacDonald06.29.2024
Records reveal the scale of Homeland Security's phone location data purchases
Records show Homeland Security bought massive amounts of phone location data — including a huge burst in 2018.
Jon Fingas07.18.2022
Clearview AI agrees to limit sales of facial recognition data in the US
Clearview AI has agreed to permanently stop selling its biometric database to private companies and individuals in the US as part of a landmark settlement with the ACLU.
Andrew Tarantola05.09.2022
Supreme Court asked to review case against border device searches
The ACLU and EFF have asked the Supreme Court to hear a challenge against warrantless phone and laptop searches at borders, including airports.
Jon Fingas04.24.2021
Man sues police over a facial recognition-related wrongful arrest
Nijeer Parks says he spent 10 days in jail after he was falsely identified as a shoplifter.
Kris Holt12.29.2020
Civil rights groups demand CBP stops facial recognition expansion at airports
The ACLU, Electronic Frontier Foundation and others objected to a proposed rule change.
Kris Holt12.21.2020
Clearview to rely on First Amendment to defend its face-tracking tech
The CEO has been banging this drum since the lawsuits starting rolling in.
Jessica Conditt08.11.2020
Facial recognition linked to a second wrongful arrest by Detroit police
It's the second-known such case in the US to date.
Kris Holt07.10.2020
EARN IT Act amendments transfer the fight over Section 230 to the states
Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed an amended version of the EARN IT Act, which will head to the Senate floor for debate.
Christine Fisher07.02.2020
Boston bans police and city use of facial recognition software
Following the wrongful arrest of Robert Williams, Boston has become the second-largest city in the US to ban the use of facial recognition software.
Igor Bonifacic06.24.2020
False facial recognition match leads to a wrongful arrest in Detroit
A Michigan man was arrested due to a false match in a facial recognition system, and the ACLU is filing a complaint in response.
Jon Fingas06.24.2020
Microsoft reportedly tried to sell facial recognition tech to the DEA
Microsoft pitched its facial recognition technology to the DEA despite its concerns about selling to local police.
Jon Fingas06.17.2020
Riot Games will donate $1 million to support racial equality
Riot is responding to anti-racism protests by pledging $1 million toward the ACLU and The Innocence Project.
Mariella Moon06.06.2020
ACLU sues Clearview AI over alleged privacy violations
The ACLU has sued Clearview AI for allegedly violating Illinois privacy law through its face recognition-based surveillance technology.
Jon Fingas05.28.2020
Contact tracing apps are coming whether we like it or not
Can you imagine trying to get 80 percent of Americans, from the privacy and security aware to coronavirus “truthers,” to download a tracking app? It could also save a lot of money; our economy is bleeding out before our eyes.
Violet Blue04.24.2020
ACLU outlines privacy concerns for contact tracing tech
As Apple and Google prepare contact tracing technology, privacy watchdogs are urging the companies to consider privacy implications.
Karissa Bell04.16.2020
Court finds algorithm bias studies don't violate US anti-hacking law
Researchers should be free to look for bias in website algorithms in the future. A federal court in DC has ruled in a lawsuit against Attorney General William Barr that studies aimed at detecting discrimination in online algorithms don't violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The government argued that the Act made it illegal to violate a site's terms of service through some investigative methods (such as submitting false info for research), but Judge John Bates determined that the terms only raised the possibility of civil liability, not criminal cases.
Jon Fingas03.29.2020
ACLU sues Homeland Security over airport facial recognition records
There's no question that AI surveillance is on the rise, but there are a lot of questions about just how extensively law enforcement agencies, like the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), are using it. In an attempt to increase transparency, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing DHS -- along with Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The ACLU is requesting records on the use of face surveillance at airports and borders, as well as the agencies' plans for future use.
Christine Fisher03.12.2020
Clearview AI leak names businesses using its facial recognition database
One of the most vehement arguments against Clearview AI's practice of scraping billions of photos from millions of public websites to build its facial recognition database was that the company's data storage and security protocols were both untested and unregulated. On Wednesday, Clearview AI claimed that its facial recognition database was hacked, giving intruders access the the company's full client list, which Buzzfeed News has acquired.
Andrew Tarantola02.27.2020
ACLU rejects Clearview AI's facial recognition accuracy claims
Clearview AI's facial recognition isn't just raising privacy issues -- there are also concerns over its accuracy claims. The ACLU has rejected Clearview's assertion that its technology is "100% accurate" based on the civil liberty group's methodology for testing Amazon's Rekognition, telling BuzzFeed News that the findings are "absurd on many levels" and amounted to "manufacturing endorsements." According to the ACLU, there are key differences that make Clearview's sales pitch misleading.
Jon Fingas02.10.2020