Facial recognition app linked with government data

For 404 Media, Joseph Cox describes an app, Mobile Fortify, that ICE officers can use to identify private information by pointing a phone’s camera at someone’s face.

Mobile Fortify differs from more well-known facial recognition tools, such as Clearview AI, because Clearview doesn’t necessarily have access to government databases. When a law enforcement officer uses Clearview, it checks a subject’s face against a massive archive of images Clearview has scraped from social media and the wider web. That can return someone’s name, potentially, and their social media presence. Mobile Fortify, meanwhile, takes someone’s identity and then burrows into DHS’s and other agencies’ databases to surface much more information about the person, and information that only the government may possess.

The material indicates that Mobile Fortify may soon include data from commercial providers too. One section says that “currently, LexisNexis is not supported in the application.” LexisNexis is a massive data broker that collates data including peoples’ addresses, phone numbers, and associates. LexisNexis did not respond to a request for comment.

I wonder what they’re going to do with that IRS and Medicaid data. Hm.