AI company deletes OKCupid user photos and data after FTC scrutiny

clarifai deletes models after privacy concerns linked to data sharing case

Artificial intelligence company Clarifai said this month it had deleted 3 million user photos from OkCupid along with facial-recognition models trained on that data, after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement with the dating platform over privacy violations.

OkCupid agreed to settle with the FTC in late March after it was found to have shared photos and demographic information with Clarifai in 2014 to train facial-recognition systems. However, the agreement drew criticism from some Democrats, who argued that the measures did not go far enough. The episode highlights how artificial intelligence has become a politically sensitive issue ahead of U.S. congressional elections, as the administration of Donald Trump pushes to strengthen American leadership in the sector.

Clarifai confirmed to the FTC on April 7 that it had erased the data, according to a document reviewed by Reuters.

Company deletes models and data

The company also informed the office of Lori Trahan on April 16 that it had removed any models developed using the data and had not distributed the information to third parties, her office said.

The Massachusetts Democrat described the step as “a step in the right direction,” but added that “the FTC should have never settled for less in the first place.” She said in a statement, “Misconduct by AI companies should never go unnoticed or unanswered, and I’ll continue plugging gaps left by this partisan FTC to ensure Americans’ privacy and safety comes first.”

In response, FTC spokesperson Joe Simonson said: “This is a completely baseless issue manufactured by Democrats who do nothing but lie for a living.”

The FTC does not have the authority to impose financial penalties for the violations cited in the case. Clarifai, which obtained the data after requesting it from OkCupid, was not accused of wrongdoing.

Clarifai did not respond to requests for comment regarding how many models were deleted or how long they had been in operation.

Facial recognition data

The Delaware-based company provides facial-recognition technology capable of identifying individuals in images and videos, as well as analysing attributes such as age, race and gender, according to its website. It has secured contracts with the U.S. military and has received investment from Nvidia and others. Clarifai’s founder sought access to the data in 2014, at a time when some OkCupid executives were investors in the company, according to court filings.

“We’re collecting data now and just realized that OKCupid must have a HUGE amount of awesome data for this,” Clarifai founder Matthew Zeiler wrote in an email to OkCupid co-founder Maxwell Krohn.

The FTC said the data sharing violated OkCupid’s privacy policy as well as a federal law prohibiting deceptive business practices. OkCupid and its parent company Match Group, which operates Tinder and other platforms, agreed under the settlement not to misrepresent their data policies.

The investigation was launched after a report published by The New York Times in 2019 during Donald Trump’s first administration.