SAN FRANCISCO
Lee Heidhues 7.24.2026
Last night I watched an intriguing documentary on First Amendment advocate Floyd Abrams who gained fame when his advocacy in 1971 was instrumental in the Supreme Court decision upholding The New York Times right to publish The Pentagon Papers. Pentagon Papers – Wikipedia
Thus it came as a surprise when further on in the documentary I learned that Floyd Abrams represented Clearview AI which has been sued in several jurisdictions by privacy advocates for selling its facial recognition to law enforcement agencies. The New York Times published a story in August 2020 analyzing Abrams involvement with Clearview AI.
In 2023 the author was interviewed by Teri Gross on Fresh Air.
Clearview AI, Inc. is an American facial recognition company, providing software primarily to law enforcement and other government agencies.[2] The company’s algorithm matches faces to a database of more than 20 billion images collected from the Internet, including social media applications.[1] Founded by Hoan Ton-That, Charles C. Johnson,[3] and Richard Schwartz, the company maintained a low profile until late 2019, when its usage by law enforcement was first reported.[4]
Use of the facial recognition tool has been controversial. Several U.S. senators have expressed concern about privacy rights and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has sued the company for violating privacy laws on several occasions. U.S. police have used the software to apprehend suspected criminals.[5][6][7] Clearview’s practices have led to fines and bans by EU nations for violating privacy laws, and investigations in the U.S. and other countries.[8][9][10] In 2022, Clearview reached a settlement with the ACLU, in which they agreed to restrict U.S. market sales of facial recognition services to government entities. Clearview AI – Wikipedia
Lee's Perspective 