Clearview AI Deploys Mass Facial Recognition Technology in Ukraine War

Ukraine’s defense ministry began using Clearview AI’s facial recognition technology in early March 2022, just weeks after Russia’s invasion, after CEO Hoan Ton-That offered free access to the company’s database of over 10 billion photos. Ton-That first demonstrated the tool to Ukrainian defense officials via Zoom in early March, followed by a training session for 85 National Police members. The deployment gave Ukraine access to more than 2 billion images from Russian social media service VKontakte, which Clearview had scraped without authorization.

Rapid Expansion to 1,500 Officials

The deployment expanded rapidly across Ukrainian government agencies. By late 2023, more than 1,500 officials across 18 Ukrainian government agencies were using Clearview’s facial recognition tool. Ukraine conducted approximately 350,000 searches in Clearview’s database during the first 20 months of the war. The technology helped identify over 230,000 Russian soldiers and officials participating in the invasion, detect infiltrators at checkpoints, identify collaborators, prosecute alleged war criminals, and locate more than 190 abducted Ukrainian children transported to Russia.

Database Growth and Military Testing

Clearview’s database grew dramatically during the war, expanding from 10 billion to 40 billion images by 2023 - an average of five images for every person on Earth, representing a 400% increase since the start of the war. The battlefield deployment offered the company “the ultimate stress test” for its technology, instantly turning Clearview AI into a defense contractor and its facial recognition tool into military technology. Privacy advocates warned that the company was using Ukraine’s vulnerability to gather valuable data and validate its surveillance systems.

Human Rights Concerns

Human rights advocates expressed grave concerns about the deployment. Tetiana Avdieieva, a human rights lawyer in Kyiv, stated: “I don’t want Ukrainian authorities to have the reputation of the guys who use very intrusive and abusive services.” Privacy International noted that “people in Ukraine are currently at their most vulnerable” and offering controversial technologies that exploit personal data appeared irresponsible. Experts cautioned that Ukraine may struggle to restrict Clearview’s use after the war concludes, potentially jeopardizing the nation’s EU membership bid, as several European nations have banned the technology.

Significance

The Ukraine deployment represented the first large-scale military use of commercial facial recognition technology in active warfare. It demonstrated how private surveillance companies could exploit humanitarian crises to normalize authoritarian surveillance infrastructure, using the urgency of war to bypass democratic oversight and privacy protections. The massive expansion of Clearview’s database during this period showed how conflict zones could serve as testing grounds for surveillance systems that would later be deployed against civilian populations globally. The deployment also revealed how surveillance companies could transform themselves into military contractors simply by offering “free access” during crises, creating dependencies that would outlast the emergency conditions that justified their initial use.