Interior to use facial recognition AI for missing and murdered persons, human trafficking cases

The Interior Department intends to award a firm-fixed-price contract to Clearview AI for facial recognition technology to support investigations into missing and murdered Indigenous persons, human trafficking and Internet Crimes Against Children cases, according to contracting documents posted Friday. The department said access to Clearview AI's platform is "critical" to the Missing and Murdered Unit's mission and is seeking six accounts for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Office of Justice Services and the MMU, with capability statements and pricing due by noon Tuesday. The Bureau of Indian Affairs estimates approximately 4,200 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people remain unsolved, while Sens. Ed Markey and Jeff Merkley and Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Ayanna Pressley have previously urged federal agencies to stop using Clearview AI, calling it a threat to civil liberties and privacy.

Interior to use facial recognition AI for missing and murdered persons, human trafficking cases Artificial intelligence will soon aid Interior Department investigators with missing and murdered Indigenous person cases, according to contracting documents https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/fac77f1292c043c38748d02266f7a087/view posted Friday. The department intends to award a firm-fixed-price contract to Clearview AI https://fedscoop.com/tag/clearview-ai/ for facial recognition technology, saying it will enable personnel to “rapidly identify and locate missing persons, crime victims, and suspects nationwide.” “Access to Clearview AI’s platform is critical to the Missing and Murdered Unit https://www.bia.gov/service/mmu ’s mission, providing capabilities necessary for sensitive and urgent investigations,” the documents said. The agency is looking to get six accounts to not only help with MMIP cases, but also human trafficking and Internet Crimes Against Children cases within the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Office of Justice Services and the MMU, it said. While this is not a solicitation, to meet market research requirements firms that believe they can provide the required services can submit a capability statement and pricing information to the department by noon Tuesday. Other government agencies have used Clearview AI for facial recognition, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation https://fedscoop.com/clearview-ai-is-building-a-deepfake-detection-tool/ and Immigration and Customs Enforcement https://www.biometricupdate.com/202509/ice-awards-clearview-ai-9-2m-facial-recognition-contract . A 2021 Government Accountability Office report https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-21-526.pdf found that the departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Justice, and Interior used Clearview AI. “These agents used Clearview AI to identify criminals, as well as subjects who have been arrested previously, were deported, and attempted to re-enter the United States at the border,” the report said. The Department of Defense reported it already collects facial images with mobile devices to search national databases and “plans to enhance searches by accessing Clearview AI’s large repository of facial images from open sources to search for matches,” the GAO report said. Interior’s U.S. Park Police reported that it stopped using Clearview AI in June 2020 after conducting a pilot test in April 2020, GAO said. Lawmakers have expressed concern about the company in the past, saying facial recognition technology poses “unique threats to marginalized communities in ways that extend beyond the tools’ inaccuracy issues” as “communities of color are systematically subjected to over-policing, and the proliferation of biometric surveillance tools is, therefore, likely to disproportionately infringe upon the privacy of individuals in Black, Brown, and immigrant communities.” “Facial recognition tools pose a serious threat to the public’s civil liberties and privacy rights, and Clearview AI’s product is particularly dangerous,” a group of congressional Democrats wrote in a 2022 letter https://www.merkley.senate.gov/senators-markey-and-merkley-and-reps-jayapal pressley-urge-federal-agencies-to-end-use-of-clearview-ai-facial-recognition-technology/ . “We urge you to immediately stop the Department’s use of facial recognition technology, including Clearview AI’s tools.” The concerned lawmakers included Sens. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, as well as Reps. Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. The BIA estimates there are approximately 4,200 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people that have gone unsolved, the MMU website https://www.bia.gov/service/mmu/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-people-crisis says, as the crisis particularly impacts and involves women https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/2022/05/04/neglect-mmiw-cases-stresses-systemic-struggles-indigenous-crisis/9641637002/ . “American Indian and Alaska Native people are at a disproportionate risk of experiencing violence, murder, or going missing and make up a significant portion of the missing and murdered cases,” the website https://www.bia.gov/service/mmu says.