'I am disturbed': Vermont's attorney general is suing Clearview AI over its facial recognition app that uses images scraped from Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube

• Clearview AI, the company behind a controversial facial recognition app, was just sued by the Vermont attorney general over alleged privacy violations.
• The app uses a database of face images scraped from websites and social media, allowing clients to upload a picture of someone's face and view matches.
• The company's clients reportedly include police departments, multinational corporations, and wealthy individuals.
• This is the first lawsuit against the company filed by a prosecutor.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Vermont's attorney general is cracking down on Clearview AI, the company behind a controversial facial recognition app that has built a searchable database of faces scraped from social media.

In a complaint filed Tuesday, Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan accuses Clearview AI of violating Vermont's Consumer Protection Act and its Data Broker Law. This is the first lawsuit filed by a state prosecutor against Clearview AI, which already faces lawsuits from individuals in Illinois and New York.

"I am disturbed by this practice, particularly the practice of collecting and selling children's facial recognition data," Donovan said in a statement. "This practice is unscrupulous, unethical, and contrary to public policy. I will continue to fight for the privacy of Vermonters, particularly our most vulnerable."

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Clearview AI largely operated in secret until a New York Times report in January laid bare the company's practices. Since then, it has faced wave after wave of criticism from regulators and privacy advocates.

The company initially claimed that its software was intended only for law enforcement agencies. But a client list obtained by BuzzFeed News showed that corporations like Macy's, Walmart, and the NBA were also using the app (Clearview denied the accuracy of BuzzFeed's report), and a New York Times report showed that it was also being used casually by wealthy individuals and investors. Billionaire John Catsimatidis told The Times that he used the app to spy on his daughter's date. Actor-turned-investor Ashton Kutcher is also suspected of having access to the app, according to The Times.

YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have sent cease-and-desist letters to Clearview AI demanding that it stop scraping images from their sites to build its face database. Clearview AI CEO Hoan Ton-That has flouted those demands, arguing that using publicly available images is the company's First Amendment right.

In addition to its lawsuit against Clearview AI, the Vermont Attorney General's office has filed an injunction demanding that the company stop collecting photos of Vermonters immediately.

A spokesperson for Clearview AI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.