The Rise and Risks of Facial Recognition Technology

A secretive start-up promising the next generation of facial recognition software has compiled a database of images far bigger than anything ever constructed by the United States government: over three billion, it says. Is this technology a breakthrough for law enforcement — or the end of privacy as we know it?

Guest: Annie Brown, a producer on “The Daily,” spoke with Kashmir Hill, a technology reporter for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• Federal and state law enforcement officers are using one company’s app to make arrests in 49 states. So what is Clearview AI, and what influence does it hold?
• Clearview’s app is being used by police to identify victims of child sexual abuse. Some question both the ethics and the accuracy of the results.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.