Clearview AI settles suit over face database

CHICAGO — Facial recognition startup Clearview AI has agreed to restrict the use of its massive collection of face images to settle allegations that it collected people’s photos without their consent.

The company in a legal filing Monday agreed to permanently stop selling access to its face database to private businesses or individuals around the country, putting a limit on what it can do with its ever-growing trove of billions of images pulled from social media and elsewhere on the internet.

The settlement — which must be approved by a federal judge in Chicago — will end a 2-year-old lawsuit brought by the

American Civil Liberties Union and other groups over alleged violations of an Illinois digital privacy law.

Clearview is also agreeing to stop making its database available to Illinois state government and local police departments for five years.

The New York-based company will continue offering its services to federal agencies, such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and to other law enforcement agencies and government contractors outside of Illinois.

“This is a huge win,” said Linda Xochitl Tortolero, president of Chicago-based Mujeres Latinas en Accion, which works with survivors of gender-based violence and was a plaintiff in the case along with the ACLU and other groups.

Among the concerns raised by Tortolero’s group was that photos posted on social media sites such as Facebook or Instagram — and turned into a “faceprint” by Clearview — could end up being used by stalkers, ex-partners or predatory companies to track a person’s whereabouts and social activity.

An attorney who was defending Clearview against the lawsuit said the company is “pleased to put this litigation behind it.”

“The settlement does not require any material change in the company’s business model or bar it from any conduct in which it engages at the present time,” said a statement from Floyd Abrams, a lawyer known for taking on high-profile free speech cases.