Clearview AI—Clearview AI sold facial recognition to 3,100+ US law enforcement agencies including FBI and ICE
Clearview AI sold its facial recognition technology to over 3,100 US agencies including the FBI (contract signed December 2021), ICE ($2.3M contract for immigration enforcement), NYPD (11,000+ searches), and hundreds of local police departments. The company specifically marketed its use for immigration enforcement under ICE's ImmigrationOS system. CEO Hoan Ton-That actively pursued federal expansion, telling Reuters in 2022 the company would 'redouble its efforts' to convert trial users to permanent customers.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Immigration Openness | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Surveillance Technology | +toward | primary | -1.00 |
| User Privacy | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.787 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.59)
Evidence (1 signal)
BuzzFeed News revealed Clearview AI used by over 2,200 law enforcement agencies
BuzzFeed News obtained Clearview AI's client list revealing over 2,200 law enforcement agencies across 27 countries had used the facial recognition tool, including ICE, CBP, and the FBI.