Police spend $85,500 to access AI platform that can geolocate photos

Emails have revealed how law enforcement agencies spent $85,500 on a platform that can provide location information in seconds after analyzing its background.

“Perfect for travelers, researchers, and anyone curious about image locations,” GeoSpy says on its website. GeoSpy is an AI-powered platform that identifies potential locations from a photo.

It seems to have broadened its user base after the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office (MDSO) and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) purchased access to the platform.

These law enforcement agencies plan to use the service for crime investigations, according to 404 Media, which accessed internal police emails.

On its website, GeoSpy has already published details of investigations in which the service was used, but it hasn’t specified which agencies have bought the tool.

The email by MDSO revealed that the Cyber Crimes Bureau has been testing the GeoSpy tool and that it already “shows promise.”

The obtained information also notes that the agency uses both the “global” model, which allows geolocating photos worldwide, and a custom model for Miami-Dade County.

While the company states that its AI can show locations with one to five meters of accuracy, the emails revealed that the custom model is able to show results with one meter of accuracy.

According to the documents attached to these emails, the total price of the access was $85,500. This sum includes two annual GeoSpy licenses with 350 searches for $5,000 each, an additional 150,00 searches for 37,500, and a custom Miami-Dade County model for $38,000.

Curious what others think about this story? Contribute your thoughts to the debate below.

The acquired information also revealed that another law enforcement agency to use this service is “LAPD’s Robbery and Homicide Bureau.”

GeoSpy AI was launched in 2023 and is known to use image data, such as architecture, landscape, and vegetation, to identify locations.

Given that it’s a relatively novel service and its accuracy is not yet known, the emails indicate that the platform's information should be considered “lead information only,” with investigation conducted in accordance with standardized methods.

In the emails, the agency also acknowledges that the platform may produce false positives and notes that officials should limit the sharing of personally identifiable information (PII) only when necessary.

The shared information also revealed that the information obtained from the platform hasn’t led to any arrests.

Perhaps this signals that law enforcement agencies are using these AI-powered services with greater caution, given how they can affect society in the event of a false positive.

That reminds of the debacle with Clearview AI, the facial recognition platform “designed to support federal, state, and local law enforcement,” according to its website.

The platform has been the main focus of Kashmir Hill's book, Your Face Belongs to Us, which reveals how it contributed to wrongful arrests by providing incorrect information.

In 2024, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Dutch DPA) deemed it illegal and fined it for creating an illegal database containing billions of photos of people’s faces.

With the rise in ICE raids, law enforcement agencies are also seeking new ways to support their investigations. It has recently been reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is looking into advertising companies' practices, which could be incorporated into their own investigations.

Unlock more exclusive Cybernews content on YouTube.