Ukraine already uses facial recognition from Clearview AI

This was stated by Reuters, referring to direct sources of the company. It should be noted that Ukraine receives free access to the Clearview AI face search system, which allows checking persons of potential interest at checkpoints.

This idea arose after the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine. Clearview AI CEO Hoan Ton-That sent a letter to kyiv offering assistance. At the same time, the company did not offer this technology to the Russian invaders.

The Clearview AI founder said his startup has a database of 10 billion photos, including more than 2 billion images from the Russian social network VKontakte. This database can help Ukraine identify the dead more easily than trying to match fingerprints, and it works even if there are facial injuries.

It also claims that Clearview AI technology could be used to reunite separated refugees with their families, identify Russian operatives and help the government debunk the string of fake news or false social media posts related to the invasion and war.

According to Ton-That, the exact purpose for which the Ukrainian Defense Ministry will use this technology is unclear. Other Ukrainian government agencies are expected to implement Clearview AI capabilities in the coming days.

Ukraine has started using the controversial Clearview AI facial recognition technology

VKontakte images make Clearview AI’s data set more comprehensive than PimEyes, a public image search engine often used to identify people in military photos.

However, some critics say facial recognition technology can misidentify people at checkpoints and in combat. Failure to comply could result in the death of civilians.

Facial recognition in Ukraine

Facial recognition technology is a system used to detect the presence of a person by comparing a digital image or video of a person’s face with pre-existing data.

Facial recognition and face matching can be used to verify a subject’s identity by recording and analyzing an image or video of a person’s facial structure and comparing it to a pre-existing image to determine if there is a match.

The pre-existing image can be from a private or public database, or an image from a government-issued ID. Facial recognition technology has been in development for decades, but advances in recent years have made these solutions commonplace in our daily lives.

Facial recognition tools are now available on smartphones, and financial institutions are beginning to use face matching to verify digital identity as part of opening a digital account.