Hackers Steel Client List From Facial Recognition Software Clearview AI

The customer list of Clearview AI, a company that makes software to compare faces on camera images with public photos and videos on the internet, has been stolen. The company itself has announced this. The code of the software was not stolen, the company claims.

The attackers have obtained the full list of customers, including many police forces and investigative services, writes The Daily Beast. The company sent a notification about the digital intrusion to customers and the site got their hands on it. Clearview AI has confirmed the break-in.

Not only could the burglars access the customer list, but they could also see how many different accounts they had created and how many searches they entered, the site reports. They couldn’t access the content of those searches, nor could they access Clearview AI’s servers containing the images of people, the company says.

The software makes it possible to find a name and address by entering a photo. The software works by combining scraped images from social media and video sites to build a database of people’s profiles with data and images. The company made headlines last month when it emerged that many American police forces are using the software. Since then, several companies, including Facebook, Google and Twitter, have asked Clearview AI to stop scraping because it goes against the terms of their services.