Clearview AI surveillance tech allegedly designed to target minorities | Weekly Update 16/04/2025
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
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Mother Jones
An investigation has revealed that Clearview AI developed its facial recognition technology to help US law enforcement agencies target marginalised communities, including immigrants, people of colour and political dissidents.
The company allegedly scraped billions of images from the internet and social media without consent, creating a vast biometric database. Its system not only identified individuals, but also linked to webpages revealing personal details such as religion, sexuality, political beliefs and family ties.
Clearview’s founder allegedly pitched the tool to US Border Patrol as a way to identify undocumented migrants and target individuals with an ‘affinity for far-left groups’.
Internal documents reportedly show that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) piloted the technology in 2019 and ran more than 8,000 searches within a year. It has since become a key client, despite records indicating that ICE officials had little oversight of how the tool was being used.
International regulators have ruled the company’s data collection practices are illegal, with data protection authorities in France, Italy, Greece and the Netherlands fining Clearview around USD100m.
Privacy groups warn that the system poses a grave threat to civil rights. Clearview did not respond to media requests for comment.
FROM US
Briefing | Bitter truth: Migrant worker abuse in the production of sugar, cocoa and coffee in Chiapas — Help spread the word on our new report by liking & sharing on LinkedIn
Sarah Lince, Verité
New blog series | Binding treaty 2025: Essential discussions and perspectives:
BUSINESS & HUMAN RIGHTS IN FOCUS
CONFRONTING GREEN EXTRACTIVISM IN TRANSITION SUPPLY CHAINS:
Worker exploitation, Indigenous Peoples’ rights abuses and environmental harms are intensifying across transition mineral supply chains, as governments and companies struggle to match welcome climate ambition with adequate rights safeguards.
At the UN Regional Forum in São Paulo last week, civil society from across the Americas demanded binding due diligence laws and people-centred development that protects Indigenous Peoples, workers and environmental defenders. They condemned ‘green extractivism’ - the exploitation of natural resources for green technology, usually at the expense of people and ecosystems - and called for stronger safeguards.
In Zambia, research reveals rising labour and environmental violations amid a critical minerals boom. Unions warn that labour laws, especially for women miners, should be strengthened.
In Indonesia, reports of labour abuse are increasing at nickel plants including PT QMB, PT GNI and PT VDNI, with workers citing delayed pay, poor safety and mass layoffs. Nickel’s critical role in clean tech underscores the need for stronger labour rights and corporate accountability.
💬 We invited PT QMB to respond to the allegations, the company’s response can be found here. Previous non-responses from Jiangsu Delong (which owns PT VDNI) can be found here.
To further explore the human rights impacts of mining key minerals essential to the net-zero transition, view our Transition Minerals Tracker — and look out for the 2025 analysis, launching 7 May.
INVESTORS RETREAT FROM RESPONSIBILITY:
Investor responsibility for human rights and climate action is under scrutiny after major setbacks. A new report by Finanzwende alleges that investment giant Blackrock and influential lobby groups engaged in ‘unprecedented’ lobbying to weaken the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), securing exemptions that leave banks, insurers and asset managers largely unaccountable for human rights and environmental harms linked to their investments.
The report also warns that the European Commission’s ‘Omnibus package’ risks making these exemptions permanent by scrapping a review clause that requires a reconsideration of the finance exemption after two years.
Meanwhile, Dutch activist group Follow This has paused all climate resolution campaigns against oil majors, citing a shift in the political climate and growing backlash from institutional investors. Credited with forcing companies like Chevron to set emissions targets, the group says that most investors are now unwilling to use their shareholder power to push for change.
❌ We invited Blackrock to respond to the allegations; it did not.
CONTENT MODERATORS FACE ABUSE & RETALIATION:
Content moderators are sounding the alarm over poor working conditions and severe mental health impacts. In some European countries, outsourced and migrant moderators hired by firms like Accenture, Appen, Teleperformance and Telus reportedly face surveillance, pressure to meet harsh performance metrics and visa-linked job insecurity. Workers describe experiencing burnout, psychotic episodes and even suicidal ideation after prolonged exposure to violent online content.
In Türkiye, 15 TikTok moderators are suing Telus, alleging that they were dismissed for unionising. Workers said that they were paid near the minimum wage and forced to view traumatic content without adequate mental health support.
💬 We invited all named companies to respond to the allegations. Responses from Accenture, Appen and Teleperformance can be read here. Telus denied union busting, claiming that its dismissals in Türkiye followed legal procedures based on performance or operational needs. Its full response can be read here.
AROUND THE WORLD
INTERNATIONAL
Spotlight:
The Guardian, SourceMaterial
Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are under fire for operating and expanding water-intensive data centres in some of the world’s driest regions, according to SourceMaterial and the Guardian. The tech giants are reportedly planning hundreds of new data centres globally, many in areas already facing water stress.
Despite pledges by Microsoft and Google to become ‘water positive’ by 2030, critics argue that water offsetting strategies won’t alleviate the impacts of their water usage on local communities and ecosystems.
In response to questions from journalists, spokespeople for Amazon and Google defended their developments, saying that they always take water scarcity into account. Microsoft declined to comment.
Other international news:
AFRICA
Spotlight:
Nile Post, The Guardian
At least nine activists have been arrested in Kampala after protesting Stanbic Bank’s involvement in financing the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). The protest follows EACOP Ltd.’s announcement of securing a new round of debt financing from banks including Stanbic Bank, KCB Bank and African Export Import Bank.
The project, led by TotalEnergies and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), has faced sustained opposition from climate and human rights groups, who warn that it will displace communities, threaten biodiversity and undermine climate goals.
Activists say that more than 100 protesters have been arrested to date, and accuse funders of enabling abuses.
Meanwhile, a new report by Haki Defenders Foundation and the University of Sheffield found that many of the 13,000 people displaced by the project in Uganda and Tanzania received inadequate compensation. TotalEnergies said that compensation follows international standards.
❌ We invited Stanbic Bank, KCB Bank and African Export Import Bank to respond to the allegations; they did not.
Other news from the region:
AMERICAS
Spotlight:
CBC
An undocumented Brazilian worker was deported from Canada after exposing labour abuses in a Winnipeg construction project. The worker said that he was misled into working illegally with promises of a future work permit, but was instead underpaid, forced to work long hours without proper safety gear, and subjected to verbal abuse. After whistleblowing, the worker faced deportation, which highlights gaps in protections for undocumented migrant workers who report abuse.
Other news from the region:
ASIA & PACIFIC
Spotlight:
Free Malaysia Today
The USA has banned imports of salt from South Korea’s largest salt producer, Taepyung Salt Farm, citing forced labour involving individuals with disabilities. US Customs and Border Protection found evidence of serious labour violations, including confinement, wage withholding and physical abuse, marking the first time a foreign government has blocked imports from a South Korean company over forced labour.
Concerns about exploitation in salt farms have persisted for more than a decade. A 2014 exposé revealed systemic abuse, including links to a local lawmaker and major food companies. Despite national attention, reports of forced labour continued.
Other news from the region:
EUROPE & CENTRAL ASIA
Spotlight:
Public Eye, Business AM, Reuters
Luxury goods group Richemont has filed a defamation and coercion complaint against members of Sudd Cobas, an Italian union that supported migrant workers protesting labour abuses at a factory producing bags for the company.
The case follows years of complaints from Pakistani, Afghani and Chinese workers at Z Production and its subcontractor Eurotaglio, who reported harsh conditions, low wages and illegal overtime.
After a 2022 strike led to improved working terms, Richemont’s subsidiary reportedly ended its contract with the suppliers, though it denies doing so due to the union agreement. Protests continued after all unionised workers were dismissed.
Richemont has accused the union of a ‘slander campaign’. Z Production did not respond to journalists’ requests for comment.
Other news from the region:
MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA
Spotlight:
SOMO, Associated Press
Dutch police dog company Four Winds K9 reportedly exported more than 100 dogs to Israel between October 2023 and February 2025, amid allegations that the Israeli military systematically used them to attack and torture Palestinian civilians, including children, the elderly and detainees. Under Dutch law, companies can be held criminally liable if their exports are linked to war crimes.
See also: Two Microsoft employees were reportedly fired following protests at the company’s 50th anniversary event over its provision of AI technology to the Israeli military amid their ongoing war on Gaza.
Other news from the region:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Call for input | Report on ‘Labour Migration, Business and Human Rights’ to the 80th session of the UN General Assembly
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