U.S. Customs and Border Protection has signed a $225,000 contract to access Clearview AI's face recognition tools for a year. The deal grants Border Patrol's intelligence division and National Targeting Center access to over 60 billion publicly available images for 'tactical targeting' and 'strategic counter-network analysis.'

This marks a significant expansion of facial recognition use in federal enforcement, extending beyond traditional border operations. The contract allows analysts to conduct daily intelligence work using Clearview's database, rather than limiting searches to specific investigations. CBP intelligence units draw from commercially available tools and public data to identify individuals and map connections for national security and immigration operations.

The agreement raises concerns about privacy and oversight, as it doesn't specify what types of photos agents can upload or whether searches may include U.S. citizens. The deal comes amid mounting scrutiny of facial recognition use in federal enforcement, with Senator Ed Markey recently introducing legislation to bar ICE and CBP from using such technology. Clearview AI's business model, which scrapes photos from public websites without consent, has drawn criticism from privacy advocates and civil liberties groups.