PimEyes

Transparency and accountability 🙈

Pimeyes is seen to suffer from several key transparency and accountability limitations:

• Algorithmic black box. The company refuses to reveal how its algorithms work.

• Data collection and protection. PimEyes scrapes billions of images from across the internet without obtaining consent from the individuals in those photos. The company claims to only use uploaded photos temporarily for 48 hours, but there is little transparency around their data retention and protection practices.

• Legal accountability. PimEyes is legally based in Belize, likely to avoid stricter regulations in other jurisdictions. This makes it difficult to hold the company accountable under privacy laws like the EU's GDPR.

• Corporate governance. PimEyes appears reluctant to discuss its governance, including naming its directors and investors.

Risks and harms 🛑

PimEyes may market itself as a way to protect privacy but it is also seen as a privacy threat. 

The company's facial recognition system has been dogged by controversy since its launch for issues including the ease with which its system can be misused for harassment, stalking and surveillance. 

Research, advocacy 🧮

• Chan G. (2021). Towards a calibrated trust-based approach to the use of facial recognition technology

News, commentary, analysis 🗞️

• https://ipvm.com/reports/pimeyes-profile

• https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13108627/I-tried-AI-face-scanning-app-dubbed-disturbing-site-internet-hunts-photos-never-knew-existed.html

• https://www.npr.org/2023/10/11/1204822946/facial-recognition-search-engine-ai-pim-eyes-google

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/05/14/pimeyes-facial-recognition-search-secrecy/