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Back in May, facial recognition startup Clearview AI agreed to a nationwide ban that prohibited it from selling access to its database to the majority of private companies and individuals, now the company has agreed to a settlement in a class action lawsuit against it that grants the individual’s whose faces appear in its massive database equity in the company.The company is offering up a 23% stake in the company, in total, to all of those impacted, which as it turns out, is likely a fairly substantial number of people.Clearview created its database of more than 10 billion photos by scraping images from news sites and social media profiles without permission. So, chances are if an image of you has ever appeared online you’re potentially part of the company’s database, even if you don’t know it.Based on the company’s current valuation the settlement, which still has to be approved by a federal judge, could be worth at least $50 million. The ban on sales in May was due to another lawsuit championed by the American Civil Liberties Union as well as other advocacy groups. The groups sued the company claiming that Clearview’s database violated privacy laws in Illinois that prohibit private companies from collection biometric data on users without their expressed consent.
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While the company can not sell its product to individuals or private companies, it can offer its database to law enforcement and government agencies.Engadget notes, that the stock settlement will likely equate to around $.25 per person. That money also isn’t something you’ll see immediately. The payout would only happen if Clearview were to go public or be sold, so you might be waiting quite a while. The company is also facing a number of other, similar, class action lawsuits, so that payout amount might drop or even become non-existant.
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