Clearview AI stops offering facial recognition technology in Canada

Clearview AI has said it would no longer offer its facial recognition services in Canada, the country’s privacy commissioner announced on Monday, in response to an ongoing investigation into the company by provincial and federal privacy authorities.

The New York-based company bills itself as a tool for law enforcement, scraping the internet for publicly available photos and using facial recognition to identify potential suspects and victims.

Critics raised concerns earlier this year about the lack of consent of those searched and the potential for misuse of the service, leading to a joint investigation launched in February into the company by the privacy commissioners of British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec and the federal government.