Police Use Of Facial-Recognition App Comes Under Fire [POLL]

NEW YORK — Technology that uses billions of photos from the internet — including Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn — to allow law enforcement agencies to identity suspects in crimes has been coming under scrutiny recently. New Jersey's Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal told state prosecutors last week that police officers should stop using the facial-recognition app made by Clearview AI.

Grewal said he hadn't heard of the app until recently and was troubled by reporting that raised questions about privacy and law enforcement security, the New York Times reported.

He sent the company a cease-and-desist letter because it was using his office and investigations in a video promoting its products on its website. The video has since been removed.

According to the Clearview AI website, the app uses public information only and is not a surveillance system.

The company said its results "require follow-up investigation and confirmation" and the app was designed to comply with all federal, state and local laws.

The New York Post reported last week that some officers with New York Police Department had been using the app on their personal phones even though the department had passed on officially using it because of concerns raised after a complimentary 90-day trial.

The NYPD's concerns included security and the potential for abuse.

While Clearview has said the app and software are only available to law enforcement agencies, BuzzFeed News reported that the company was working with some private companies who use it for security purposes, including a bank in Georgia for a fraudulent check-cashing case.

Sarah Fajardo, the policy director for the ACLU of New Jersey, is concerned that the facial-recognition technology can be abused.

She said the tool could lead to warrantless searches because of the lack of regulation, NJ.com said.

Now it's time for you to weigh in on the issue. Vote in our unscientific poll and tell us what you think in the comments.