Lenso.ai and fellow EyeMatch.ai machine learning (“AI”) company have announced the launch of a new facial recognition tool – specifically, a search engine based on facial recognition.

Lenso.ai brings general AI reverse image search to the table, while EyeMatch.ai’s contribution is reverse image search for faces.

This consumer-facing search engine is currently demoed on Lenso.ai’s site, and lauded by the company as “highly accurate and fast” – not to mention, “user friendly.”

That last point is meant to describe technical ease of use (drag-and-drop or upload images), whereas the “friendliness,” or lack thereof (or worse) of invasive biometrics of various types is always another matter, especially regarding privacy and security.

The search engine is supposed to provide access to images of one person found on multiple sites. One image of a person is used to find others that match it and are likely to identify the individual.

Who and why would need this? Reports note several scenarios – from helpful (people might want to “facial recognition search” themselves for a variety of reasons, including to find out if they are subjected to stalking or “unlawful” surveillance), to concerning (law enforcement, which has been known to use similar tools in multiple countries, including the UK and Australia).

As for the “stalking usecase,” that can range from unhinged individuals to unhinged governments prone to mass surveillance.

Meanwhile, Lenso.ai says it is known for “remarkably accurate” reverse search, coupled with “distinct features.” The facial recognition segment is the latest addition to the tech previously used, i.e., pattern and location recognition.

This can be used to search for buildings, places, duplicate and similar images, and can be downloaded as a CSV file, or saved in user profiles.

The company further states that it can combine text keywords or site URLs with location. “For example, adding the keyword ‘at night’ to a landscape will return the results of images taken at that location at night,” a press release from Lenso.ie says.

The same site instructs users on how to start with the latest tool, the result of collaboration with EyeMatch, which its makers say can unearth images of people and faces on the internet, both those “long forgotten” – and new ones belonging to specific individuals.

None of this addresses the long-standing problems regarding the use of facial recognition as an internet search tool.