Samantha Lee/Business Insider
The full client list of Clearview AI, the embattled facial recognition company, was stolen by someone with "unauthorized access," The Daily Beast first reported.
The company has drawn backlash from privacy advocates and major social media platforms for its facial recognition tool, which lets police use a photo of a person to search a database of images from social media, identifying individuals based on their faces. The breach is notable because Clearview markets its services to law enforcement agencies and has previously avoided disclosing who its clients are.
Clearview AI attorney Tor Ekeland confirmed The Daily Beast's report in a statement to Business Insider. Ekeland said the breach didn't result from a hack into Clearview's servers, but rather a "flaw" that gave someon unauthorized access to the company's client list.
"Security is Clearview's top priority. Unfortunately, data breaches are part of life in the 21st century," Ekeland said, adding that the company will "continue to work to strengthen our security."
The New York Times reported in January that the company's customers include hundreds of law enforcement agencies across the US and Canada, including the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.
The company is also looking to expand its client base - a spokesperson told Business Insider in February that Clearview's service has "received inquiries from law enforcement agencies all over the world."
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other companies have threatened legal action against Clearview AI, instructing the company to stop scraping public images from their platforms to build its faces database. Clearview founder and CEO Hoan Ton-That responded by arguing that gathering publicly-accessible photos is protected by the US Constitution's First Amendment.
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