If you’ve read “The Strange Story of Peter Thiel,” then you’ll know all about how this deep state-connected “PayPal Mafia” don rose to financial prominence on the back of his remarkable ability to found companies that either undergird the digital financial infrastructure (PayPal) or act as cutouts for the intelligence agencies (Palantir).
While J.D. Vance has his own controversies, his close connection to billionaire Peter Thiel, who is poised to have unprecedented influence in a new Trump administration, should deeply unsettle every American who cares about freedom, privacy and reining in the surveillance state.
H/T: The Most Revolutionary Act
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from the look,-we-honestly-thought-no-one-would-keep-asking-questions dept
Thu, Sep 28th 2023 10:41am – Tim CushingTwo years ago, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its initial review of federal use of facial recognition tech. That report found that at least half of the 20 agencies examined were using Clearview’s controversial facial recognition tech.
Oversight Report Finds Several Federal Agencies Are Still Using Clearview’s Facial Recognition Tech
The Federal Bureau of Investigation pressures Facebook to take down alleged Russian “disinformation” at the behest of Ukrainian intelligence, according to a senior Ukrainian official who corresponds regularly with the FBI. The same official said that Ukrainian authorities define “disinformation” broadly, flagging many social media accounts and posts that he suggested may simply contradict the Ukrainian government’s narrative.
How The FBI Helps Ukrainian Intelligence Hunt ‘Disinformation’ On Social Media (archived)
from the two-wrongs-don’t-make-a-constitutional-right dept
Wed, Sep 21st 2022 10:43am – Cathy Gellis
The problems with Clearview AI’s facial recognition system, particularly in the hands of police, are myriad and serious. That the technology exists as it does at all raises significant ethical concerns, and how it has been used to feed people into the criminal justice system raises significant due process ones as well. But an article in the New York Times the other day might seem to suggest that it perhaps also has a cuddly side, one that might actually help criminal defendants, instead of just hurting them.
No, The Solution For Criminal Defendants Is Not More Clearview AI
PimEyes is a paid service that finds photos of a person from across the internet, including some the person may not want exposed. “We’re just a tool provider,” its owner said.
A Face Search Engine Anyone Can Use Is Alarmingly Accurate
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A Polish company is abolishing our anonymity:
An investigation by netzpolitik.org shows the potential for abuse of PimEyes, a free search engine for 900 million faces. Whoever’s photos have been published on the Internet could already be part of their database.
Ukraine claims this is being done to sow dissent in Russia. That’s CRAP. This is psychological warfare. It’s intended to traumatize and terrorize. People on the receiving end of this will understand the inhumanity/monstrosity on the part of the persons sending these images to them.
Ukraine’s Gory Online Campaign Violates Geneva Convention
WaPo Articles Archived:
Ukraine is scanning faces of dead Russians, then contacting the mothers
If only Clearview had managed to remain under the radar. If it had, it could have been the stealth privacy assassin multiple entities (both public and private) desire, but are unwilling to admit to using publicly. Even the rest of the facial recognition tech field wants nothing to do with Clearview and the billions of images/data points it has scraped from the public web. Clearview remains alone in its extreme odiousness — a villain rising head and shoulders above its already questionable competition.
Clearview AI Walks Back Earlier Claims, Is Now Willing To Sell Its Sketchy Product To Anyone With Money And A Pulse
Face scanner Clearview AI aims to branch out beyond police:
One of its biggest known federal contracts is with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, particularly its investigative arm which has used it to track down both the victims and perpetrators of child sexual exploitation. Clearview in March also started offering its services for free to the Ukrainian military, in part to help identify dead Russian soldiers using Clearview’s repository of about 2 billion images scraped from Russian social media website VKontakte.
Peter Thiel to Exit Meta’s Board to Support Trump-Aligned Candidates
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International Finance’s Anti-China Crusade
Peter Thiel Once Wrote That Women Getting The Vote Was Bad For Democracy
Billionaire ‘philosopher king’ Peter Thiel loves monopolies — democracy not so much
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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