https://dnyuz.com/2020/01/18/the-secretive-company-that-might-end-privacy-as-we-know-it/The Secretive Company That Might End Privacy as We Know It
excerpt:During a recent interview at Clearview’s offices in a WeWork location in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, Mr. Ton-That demonstrated the app on himself. He took a selfie and uploaded it. The app pulled up 23 photos of him. In one, he is shirtless and lighting a cigarette while covered in what looks like blood.
Mr. Ton-That then took my photo with the app. The “software bug†had been fixed, and now my photo returned numerous results, dating back a decade, including photos of myself that I had never seen before. When I used my hand to cover my nose and the bottom of my face, the app still returned seven correct matches for me.
Police officers and Clearview’s investors predict that its app will eventually be available to the public.
Mr. Ton-That said he was reluctant. “There’s always going to be a community of bad people who will misuse it,†he said.
Even if Clearview doesn’t make its app publicly available, a copycat company might, now that the taboo is broken. Searching someone by face could become as easy as Googling a name. Strangers would be able to listen in on sensitive conversations, take photos of the participants and know personal secrets. Someone walking down the street would be immediately identifiable — and his or her home address would be only a few clicks away. It would herald the end of public anonymity.
More at URL above...Poster's note:A long, but very well-written piece describing a new facial-recognition app that's quietly being used by police, etc.
Folks, here's the future.
1984 -is- not only possible -- it's become likely, perhaps inevitable.
