SEATTLE — Seattle officials are pushing back against the ACLU's allegations that city agencies are using facial recognition technology.
The city's response follows a letter from the ACLU of Washington asking Mayor Jenny Durkan to ban the technology.
The request comes "amid concerns that the Seattle Police Department has acquired and used face recognition technology developed by Clearview AI, in apparent violation of the Seattle Surveillance Ordinance," a statement from ACLU reads.
The Seattle Police Department responded by saying, in part, "... the Department has no licenses for Clearview, no agreements with Clearview, and does not use Clearview."
ACLU alleges detectives have used Clearview AI since "at least September 2019." That information was obtained through a records request, according to ACLU.
According to Clearview, the software searches the open web and does not and cannot search private or protected information. It is a "research tool," not a surveillance system, according to the company.