--- title: "AI Company Scraped 30 Billion Facebook Photos So Cops Can Facial ID Anyone" description: "Clearview AI, maker of AI-powered facial recognition software used widely by US cops, claims to have scraped 30 billion Facebook photos for AI training." date: "2023-04-05" modified: "2023-04-05" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ai-30-billion-facebook-photos-cops-facial-id" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "facial recognition" - "surveillance state" - "the digest" --- # AI Company Scraped 30 Billion Facebook Photos So Cops Can Facial ID Anyone ![Clearview AI, maker of AI-powered facial recognition software used widely by US cops, claims to have scraped 30 billion Facebook photos for AI training.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Face Disgrace Clearview AI, the company behind a widely-used facial recognition technology that has [already led American police to charge innocent people]() with crimes [they didn't commit]() — claims to have scraped *30 billion* Facebook photos in order to train its AI algorithm, according to comments that CEO Hoan Ton-That [provided to the *BBC* last week](). And if that's not enough, Ton-That said in that same interview that US law enforcement agencies — 3,100 of which, [as *Engadget* reports](), have used the database — have apparently used that algorithm to perform nearly one million searches. To put that 30 billion figure in perspective: as of last quarter last year, Facebook had [roughly 2.94 billion active monthly users](). So, even with bots taken into consideration, it's safe to say that there are a *lot* of faces in that database, scraped without the explicit knowledge of Facebook users — and, as Facebook tells it, without permission by the social media giant, either. In fact, Facebook has already sent Clearview at least one cease-and-desist. "Clearview AI's actions invade people's privacy," a Meta spokesperson [told *Insider* in an email](), "which is why we banned their founder from our services and sent them a legal demand to stop accessing any data, photos, or videos from our services." ## Panopticon Air For his part, Ton-That says that everything Clearview does is perfectly fine. Helpful, even! "Clearview AI's database of publicly available images is lawfully collected, just like any other search engine like Google," the CEO told *Insider*. "Clearview AI's database is used for after-the-crime investigations by law enforcement, and is not available to the general public." "Every photo in the dataset," he continued, "is a potential clue that could save a life, provide justice to an innocent victim, prevent a wrongful identification, or exonerate an innocent person." ## Surveillance State But as is to be expected, some experts see this particular cornerstone of the ever-growing — and largely unregulated — police surveillance state in a very different light. "Clearview is a total affront to peoples' rights, full stop, and police should not be able to use this tool," Caitlin Seeley George, the director of campaigns and operations for the nonprofit digital rights advocacy group Fight for the Future, told *Inside*r. "Without laws stopping them," George added, "police often use Clearview without their department's knowledge or consent, so Clearview boasting about how many searches is the only form of 'transparency' we get into just how widespread use of facial recognition is." **READ MORE:** [*Clearview AI used nearly 1m times by US police, it tells the BBC*]() \[*BBC*\] **More on facial recognition:** [*Man Accuses Cops of Throwing Him in Jail Based on False Facial Recognition Match*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()