A new software service could save Benton County investigators hundreds of hours searching for potential suspects, but opponents say the tool could be used to intimidate and violate civil liberties.
The Benton County Sheriff’s Office wants to be the first agency in Washington state to tap into Clearview AI’s technology to help solve crimes.
They’re bringing the proposal to the public during a 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26, meeting in Room 303 of the Benton County Administration Building.
The $7,500 annual subscription will allow the agency to use the company’s AI tools to compare photos and video from cases to 40 billion publicly available images scraped from social media and other publicly available sources.
Sheriff Tom Croskrey told the Herald that the new service will be only one tool for detectives and just a place to turn to find people. It would be used in a similar fashion to how police search social media now.
It also won’t be the only way officers search for suspects, but instead will be part of a host of tools officers use.
While the software has widespread adoption among federal and local agencies across the country, it has also attracted its share of detractors, including several U.S. lawmakers.
Four Democratic legislators, including Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle, signed a letter calling for the Secret Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection to stop using the software.
“Facial recognition tools pose a serious threat to the public’s civil liberties and privacy rights, and Clearview AI’s product is particularly dangerous,” the Feb. 9, 2022 letter said.
They suggested the software adds to a growing belief among people that the government is watching them, and could stop people from participating in marches or rallies where they’re speaking out against injustices.
There are also questions about how well the software works to identify people of color. They pointed to a federal study that found Black, brown and Asian individuals were 100 times more likely to be misidentified than white people.
Clearview AI’s Founder and CEO Hoan Ton-That has fired back at critics saying that the same federal watchdog organization found that there are more than 100 algorithms that can match a photo from a lineup more than 99% of the time, according to a post on Clearview AI’s page.
Approval process
The sheriff’s office is at the start of a state-mandated process to begin using facial recognition technology. A state law approved in 2020 requires the agency to produce “an accountability report” for the Benton County commissioners.
Among other details, the agency will need to explain the purpose of the software and how it will be used. This includes designating who will make the decision to use it and what measures are taken to minimize the inadvertent collection of additional information.
That plan is expected to be released following Friday’s hearing, and the public will have 90 days to comment before commissioners vote on the plan.
While the formal report isn’t finished, Croskrey told the Herald they aren’t going to be setting up cameras or collecting any information that isn’t publicly available.
Commander Lee Cantu said the sheriff’s office started looking at the technology after searching for a suspect in California, where they used the technology.
After doing research, they found Clearview AI and started initial talks about the program.
It works by allowing detectives to compare a photo or video to Clearview’s database of images, Croskrey said.
Any result would be viewed by two investigators, in an effort to prevent false positives, Cantu said.
Croskrey said the technology would have proved useful after a June 10 shooting at a Benton City party.
He said detectives spent two months sorting through videos and pictures to identify people, something the technology would have made much simpler.
