Clearview AI
Dear Australian Federal Police,
I request access to the following documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982:
1. I request the creation of a document under section 17 listing documents containing the words "Clearview AI" or any variants/abbreviations of that term (such as "Clearview", or "Clearview facial recognition", etc.), for the period 1 January 2017 to 29 January 2024.
o The list should specify, where applicable:
+ The title of each document.
+ The date of creation for each document.
Please contact me if you require any clarification or have questions regarding this request.
Yours faithfully,
CR
OFFICIAL
Our reference: LEX 2405
Dear CR
We refer to your request dated 29 January 2024, seeking access to
documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the Act) as follows:
“I request the creation of a document under section 17 listing documents
containing the words "Clearview AI" or any variants/abbreviations of that
term (such as "Clearview", or "Clearview facial recognition", etc.), for
the period 1 January 2017 to 29 January 2024.
o The list should specify, where applicable:
+ The title of each document.
+ The date of creation for each document.”
Timeframe
Your request was received by the AFP on 29 January 2024, and the 30 day
statutory period for processing your request commenced from that date. The
due date for your request is 1 March 2024.
Information irrelevant to the scope of your request
Please advise this office that you consent to exclude the following
information:
- Names of AFP members, other than the Senior Executive; and
- Direct telephone numbers, middle names of AFP members, signatures
and mobile telephone numbers of AFP members.
Disclosure of your identity
The AFP may be required to consult with third parties in accordance with
sections 26A, 27 and 27A of the Act. Please advise us if you consent to
the AFP identifying you as the FOI applicant for the purposes of the
consultation. If we do not receive your consent, we will not disclose
your identity to third parties.
Revision of scope request
In order to collate the requested information, the FOI team would be
required to conduct an agency wide search and audit across every business
area within the AFP of any document that mentions “Clearview AI” or
variants/abbreviations of the terms "Clearview” or “Clearview facial
recognition", including but not limited to all emails, network drives and
AFP databases.
Processing this FOI request in its current form would require a
substantial and unreasonable diversion of AFP resources. In order to avoid
the AFP issuing a practical refusal pursuant to section 24AA of the FOI
Act, you may wish to consider revising the scope of your request to the
creation of a document under section 17 of that refers to emails only,
noting that an audit of AFP emails under your current search teams and
time frame may also return search results that may not remove the
practical refusal reason.
We would be grateful for your views on this revision of scope request by 7
February 2024.
If you have any queries in relation to this matter, please do not hesitate
to contact our team at [1][AFP request email].
Kind regards
AFP24818
COMMERCIAL, GOVERNANCE AND INFORMATION
AFP LEGAL
CHIEF COUNSEL
[2]Australian Federal Police
The Australian Federal Police acknowledges the Traditional Owners and
Custodians of Country
throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and
community. We pay
our respects to First Nations people, culture and Elders past, present and
emerging.
CR left an annotation ()
RTK USERS:
I am seeking your help to form a revised scope. If you are interested in this topic, please feel free to add to this word document.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qy_N...
Dear Australian Federal Police,
I hereby revise my request as follows:
I request the creation of a document under section 17 listing:
1. All correspondence between the AFP and Clearview AI, Inc.
2. All internal correspondence containing the words “Clearview AI” or any variants/abbreviations of that term (such as “Clearview”, or “Clearview facial recognition”, etc).
3. FOI requests received relating to Clearview AI.
The list should specify, where applicable:
+ The title of each document.
+ The date of creation for each document.
Yours sincerely,
CR
OFFICIAL
Our reference: LEX 2405
Dear CR
Thank you for your revision, we will proceed to conduct searches in response to this request.
Kind regards
AFP24818
COMMERCIAL, GOVERNANCE AND INFORMATION
AFP LEGAL
CHIEF COUNSEL
The Australian Federal Police acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country
throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay
our respects to First Nations people, culture and Elders past, present and emerging.
OFFICIAL
Hi CR
Thank you for your email below.
Section 15 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the Act) provides that
a person who wishes to obtain access to a document of an agency may
request access to the document. Section 17 of the Act relevantly provides
(a) where it appears from the request that the desire of the applicant is
for information that is not available in discrete form in written
documents of the agency; and (b) the agency could produce a written
document containing the information in discrete form by: (i) the use of a
computer or other equipment that is ordinarily available to the agency for
retrieving or collating stored information; …; the agency shall deal with
the request as if it were a request for access to a written document so
produced and containing that information and, for that purpose, this Act
applies as if the agency had such a document in its possession.
Your request sought access to a document listing documents containing the
words "Clearview AI" or any variants/abbreviations of that term (such as
"Clearview", or "Clearview facial recognition", etc.), for the period 1
January 2017 to 29 January 2024, specifying, where applicable: + The title
of each document. + The date of creation for each document. Having regard
to the terms of your request, the AFP cannot readily produce a written
document containing the information you have sought in a discrete form by
the use of a computer or other equipment. Accordingly, the AFP does not
regard your request as a valid request for access to documents under the
Act, and will take no further steps or action in relation to it.
ADAM ANASTASI
DEPUTY GENERAL COUNSEL / COORDINATOR (COMMERCIAL, GOVERNANCE AND
INFORMATION LAW)
AFP LEGAL
CHIEF COUNSEL PORTFOLIO
Tel: +61 (0)2 51269979 Ext: 269979
[1]Australian Federal Police
The Australian Federal Police acknowledges the Traditional Owners and
Custodians of Country
throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and
community. We pay
our respects to First Nations people, culture and Elders past, present and
emerging.
Dear Adam,
I revised my request on February 8, 2024, and that same day your department sent an email acknowledging my revised request.
My request is a valid request under the FOI Act and remains ongoing.
Yours sincerely,
CR
Dear Adam,
Please confirm if your agency intends to apply to the OAIC for an extension of time under section 15AC to process my request, given the deemed refusal decision.
Yours sincerely,
CR
OFFICIAL
Dear CR
Please find attached correspondence in regards to your FOI request LEX 2405.
Kind regards
AFP 24826
A/FOI TEAM LEADER – CORPORATE
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
AFP LEGAL
CHIEF LEGAL COUNSEL
The Australian Federal Police acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country
throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay
our respects to First Nations people, culture and Elders past, present and emerging.
Dear Australian Federal Police,
This consultation process has occurred outside of the statutory timeframe.
While I acknowledge this procedural defect, I am willing to proceed with the consultation process on the condition that the department seek an extension of time under section 15AC to allow for internal review rights to be reinstated.
In the interest of reducing the volume of work required to process part two of my request, I propose limiting its scope to only include correspondence with heads of departments. Please confirm if this amended scope would assist in reducing the workload.
Additionally, I would like to address a point that has been raised during your consultation notice. It has been stated that it would take a FOI officer approximately two minutes to copy and paste the title of each document into a spreadsheet. I find this claim somewhat difficult to accept, particularly given the fact that multiple results with identical email headers could be consolidated into the list just once.
I look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely,
CR
OFFICIAL
Dear CR
I refer to your below correspondence in regards to the Notice the AFP sent you on 3 March 2024.
My apologies for the significant delay in responding to your response. I have not sought an extension with the Information Commissioner under section 15AC of the FOI Act, as it is unlikely the extension request would be granted.
You have suggested revising the scope of your request to 'correspondence with heads of departments'. Can you please provide clarification your definition of department heads? Are you meaning correspondence to the Commissioner, or Deputy Commissioner's as well? Once I have received this clarification, I will have to conduct searches again to determine the volume of documents captured.
As advised in the Notice of Intention to Refuse, the AFP do not have a system to convert the audit results into an appropriate section 17 document. We therefore, would be required to manually create this document by entering the information into a spreadsheet to meet your specific parameters. It is not as simple as cutting and pasting information into a spreadsheet.
To reinstate your review rights, you may wish to consider withdrawing your FOI request and resubmit your request once the above clarification has been provided.
It would be greatly appreciated if you are able to provide a response to this email by Monday, 8 April 2024.
Kind regards
AFP 24826
A/FOI TEAM LEADER – CORPORATE
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
AFP LEGAL
CHIEF LEGAL COUNSEL
The Australian Federal Police acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country
throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay
our respects to First Nations people, culture and Elders past, present and emerging.
OFFICIAL
Dear CR
Please find attached correspondence in regards to your FOI request, LEX 2405.
Kind regards
CASEY (AFP 24826)
A/FOI TEAM LEADER – CORPORATE
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
AFP LEGAL
CHIEF LEGAL COUNSEL
The Australian Federal Police acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country
throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay
our respects to First Nations people, culture and Elders past, present and emerging.
CR left an annotation ()
Clearview AI is being used to solve Australian police cases despite the privacy watchdog slamming police for their use of the controversial and unlawful facial recognition technology.
https://www.crikey.com.au/2024/01/25/cle...