NEW YORK TIMES – July 17 – Dozens of databases of people's faces are being compiled without their knowledge by companies and researchers, with many of the images then being shared around the world. The databases are pulled together with images from social networks, photo websites, dating sites and cameras placed in restaurants and on college quads. While there is no precise count of the data sets, privacy activists have pinpointed repositories that were built by Microsoft, Stanford University and others, with one holding ~10M images. Facebook and Google have most likely amassed the largest face data sets, which they do not distribute, according to research papers. But other companies and universities have widely shared their image troves with researchers, governments and private enterprises. Matt Zeiler, founder and CEO of Clarifai, the A.I. start-up, said his company had built a face database with images from OkCupid. He said Clarifai had access to OkCupid's photos because some of the dating site's founders invested in his company. An OkCupid spokeswoman said Clarifai contacted the company in 2014 "about collaborating to determine if they could build unbiased A.I. and facial recognition technology" and that the dating site "did not enter into any commercial agreement then and have no relationship with them now." She did not address whether Clarifai had gained access to OkCupid's photos without its consent.
by Cade Metz
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