Poll of the Day > Creepy dude is stockpiling ALL online photos of you (even just in background)

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/10/tech/clearview-ai-ceo-hoan-ton-that/index.html

Clearview AI is controversial for many reasons, but perhaps the most important is its massive database. The company claims to have scraped more than 3 billion photos from the internet, including from popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Not only that, but Clearview retains those photos in its database even after users delete them from the platforms or make their accounts private.
Clearview sells access to its database to law enforcement agencies, so those agencies can match unknown faces to other images.

The parts of Ton-That's demonstration that spooked my producer and me his access to photos that are no longer publicly available online and his ability to find a photo of me as a minor are likely among the things his law enforcement clients find appealing.
He said more than 600 law enforcement agencies in the US and Canada are using the tool, a number CNN Business has not independently verified, and when asked, he wouldn't specify how many are paying customers versus those using free trials. He also said that a number of banks are using Clearview software for fraud investigations, but declined to name any of the banks.

Technology companies have essentially no control of what happens to data, in this case pictures, after they are downloaded from their platforms.
Ensuring someone actually complies with a cease-and-desist letter when it comes to data is also essentially impossible. Once images are downloaded, as they have been by Clearview, they can be copied again and again, stored on multiple computers and servers in different places all around the world, and that's even before they are distributed or made available to third parties. Clearview's clients can access the images.

Pretty fucked up. Anyone who cares at all about privacy rights, big government, or so on should be disturbed by this. While nothing can really stop nefarious groups from scraping pics online in the same way, I think we could at least pass laws to prevent it from becoming big business for mainstream tech companies and blocking law enforcement agencies from being able to use it.

Oh btw, the above article was from 2 weeks ago, I kind of slacked on making a topic about it even though I meant to. I was reminded of the issue today, because BONUS ROUND: Clearview's entire database has already been hacked! Yay...

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/26/tech/clearview-ai-hack/index.html

That sure didn't take long to snowball, did it?

But haven't you ever wondered how many photos you're in that you didn't know about. Like if you went to Disney World or something.

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Jen0125 posted...

But haven't you ever wondered how many photos you're in that you didn't know about. Like if you went to Disney World or something.

Yeah, that's what's the most unsettling about it.

Even if you avoid posting any pics of yourself to social media and are super paranoid about that stuff, you could unwittingly be in someone else's picture in the background and the technology can get that image of your face to compare to others in its database to ID it as you

There's a creepy guy who saves everyones pics here whenever a pic topic comes up so i'm like, eh.

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Everything you do is already tracked, this is just making it more obvious.

As long as I can hide my identity when I want then idc. Nobody's allowed to install cameras in my home or take images from my devices without my permission. I can also pretend to be somebody new and unless somebody has reason to call my bs, I can get away with it.

Call me when either of those things change.
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I mean, privacy is a sham at this point. Not sure theres really anything to be done about it. You'd need even more privacy invading measures to try and stop people from doing this which would defeat the purpose.

How would you even go about making it illegal? It's not like they are hacking peoples private photos as I understand it, it's just people have been so kind as to upload a near infinite amount of free information about themselves and the people around them to public sources.

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I dont care

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Kyuubi4269 posted...

Call me when either of those things change.

I mean, if this thing works as well as they think it does, it could automatically tag you in any picture you are in thats uploaded publicly so you couldn't pretend to be someone else unless you changed your face. It'd be so that at the instant you appear in any public photo, they automatically know it's you. It wouldn't even require a human looking into it, the whole thing could be automated.

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YoukaiSlayer posted...

I mean, privacy is a sham at this point. Not sure theres really anything to be done about it. You'd need even more privacy invading measures to try and stop people from doing this which would defeat the purpose.

How would you even go about making it illegal? It's not like they are hacking peoples private photos as I understand it, it's just people have been so kind as to upload a near infinite amount of free information about themselves and the people around them to public sources.

I'd make the sale of databases with scraped photos illegal. Then there's no profit in it for large mainstream tech companies to pursue it. And law enforcement and the banks can't hire the shady groups that'd be willing to flout the law, so they'd at least be blocked from using it.

Obviously you can't stop the practice. But you can strongly dis-incentivize it and add some law-dodging hoops that a would be creeper has to go through, at least.

What legally constitutes a scrapped photo? What gives me anymore right than a corperation to my friends picture from this weekend?

Even if you did find a way to close out every loophole, theres nothing stopping the police or fbi from just doing this themselves which would result in zero profit but a lot more control (kinda surprised they aren't already doing this).

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darcandkharg31 posted...

There's a creepy guy who saves everyones pics here whenever a pic topic comes up so i'm like, eh.

I think I remember seeing the site. The thing is, I think it depends on the kind of link you use.
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\_()_/

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I hope he enjoyed all the chocolate starfish.

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My pictures are already online for all to see. Kinda mad he's making money off it but whatever.

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Who cares if someone online has my picture? What's the worst thing he could do with it?

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skullbone posted...

Who cares if someone online has my picture? What's the worst thing he could do with it?

Hack a federal database, replace his photo with yours, commit a series of crimes, frame you for the crimes.

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On one hand, it seems like something like this should be illegal. On the other, the most they might find for me is my Linkedin page.

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skullbone posted...

Who cares if someone online has my picture? What's the worst thing he could do with it?

make a shadow baby that you legally have to support financially

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I would pay good money to see all the pictures where I'm simply in the background. Keep it up!

VioletMassacre posted...

I'm in the clear then since I don't post photos of myself anywhere.

doesn't really matter since any photo you were in (even if you were just in the background) counts

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If they want my nudes all they need to do is ask! Shesh.

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