<s>
Banjo	B-Application
is	O
a	O
Utah-based	O
surveillance	O
software	O
company	O
that	O
claimed	O
to	O
use	O
AI	B-Application
to	O
identify	O
events	O
for	O
public	O
safety	O
agencies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2021	O
,	O
an	O
audit	O
requested	O
by	O
the	O
State	O
of	O
Utah	O
that	O
tried	O
to	O
assess	O
algorithmic	O
bias	O
in	O
the	O
AI	B-Application
declared	O
that	O
"	O
Banjo	B-Application
does	O
not	O
use	O
techniques	O
that	O
meet	O
the	O
industry	O
definition	O
of	O
artificial	B-Application
Intelligence	I-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
building	O
a	O
"	O
friend-finding	O
"	O
app	O
called	O
Peer	O
Compass	O
for	O
a	O
Las	O
Vegas	O
hackathon	O
in	O
2010	O
and	O
then	O
a	O
Google	B-Application
hackathon	O
in	O
2011	O
(	O
the	O
app	O
won	O
both	O
events	O
)	O
,	O
Damien	O
Patton	O
founded	O
Banjo	B-Application
as	O
a	O
social	O
media	O
application	O
for	O
phones	O
to	O
aggregate	O
and	O
discover	O
live	O
events	O
by	O
scraping	O
public	O
,	O
geotagged	O
content	O
from	O
Instagram	B-Application
,	O
Twitter	B-Application
,	O
Facebook	B-Application
,	O
Foursquare	B-Application
,	O
Path	B-Algorithm
,	O
Google	B-Application
Plus	I-Application
,	O
VKontakte	O
and	O
EyeEm	B-Algorithm
,	O
then	O
indexed	O
by	O
location	O
,	O
time	O
and	O
content	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2016	O
,	O
Banjo	B-Application
was	O
gathering	O
information	O
from	O
more	O
than	O
1.2	O
billion	O
public	O
social	O
media	O
accounts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shortly	O
after	O
the	B-Application
Google	I-Application
event	O
,	O
BlueRun	O
Ventures	O
invested	O
$	O
800,000	O
in	O
the	O
company	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
attending	O
South	O
by	O
Southwest	O
in	O
2011	O
and	O
seeing	O
other	O
friend-finding	O
apps	O
like	O
Glancee	O
,	O
Sonar	O
,	O
and	O
Highlight	O
,	O
Patton	O
told	O
his	O
investors	O
in	O
2012	O
that	O
he	O
was	O
pivoting	O
to	O
Banjo	B-Application
and	O
fired	O
all	O
but	O
one	O
employee	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Banjo	B-Application
's	O
location-enabled	O
social	O
aggregation	O
application	O
launched	O
in	O
November	O
2012	O
,	O
though	O
it	O
was	O
still	O
described	O
in	O
December	O
2012	O
as	O
an	O
app	O
to	O
find	O
friends	O
who	O
are	O
nearby	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
Patton	O
realized	O
Banjo	B-Application
's	O
potential	O
application	O
to	O
the	O
Boston	O
Marathon	O
bombing	O
manhunt	O
,	O
Banjo	B-Application
went	O
from	O
social	O
media	O
to	O
brand	O
marketing	O
and	O
to	O
service	O
news	O
companies	O
,	O
launching	O
in	O
January	O
2014	O
and	O
calling	O
it	O
Banjo	B-Application
Enterprise	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2016	O
Entrepreneur	B-Application
said	O
the	O
software	O
was	O
used	O
by	O
"	O
thousands	O
of	O
news	O
outlets	O
,	O
insurance	O
firms	O
,	O
security	O
contractors	O
and	O
more	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Banjo	B-Application
suggests	O
their	O
service	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
car	O
crashes	O
,	O
school	O
shootings	O
,	O
and	O
fires	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Banjo	B-Application
courted	O
the	O
state	O
of	O
Utah	O
with	O
its	O
services	O
,	O
moving	O
the	O
company	O
from	O
Vegas	O
to	O
Park	O
City	O
,	O
Utah	O
in	O
2018	O
and	O
signed	O
a	O
$	O
750,000	O
contract	O
in	O
November	O
2018	O
with	O
the	O
attorney	O
general	O
's	O
office	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2020	O
the	O
state	O
of	O
Utah	O
signed	O
a	O
$20.7	O
million	O
five-year	O
contract	O
with	O
Banjo	B-Application
,	O
leading	O
to	O
increased	O
scrutiny	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
March	O
2020	O
,	O
VICE	O
's	O
Motherboard	O
uncovered	O
a	O
"	O
shadow	O
company	O
"	O
named	O
Pink	O
Unicorn	O
Labs	O
that	O
developed	O
apps	O
for	O
iPhone	B-Device
and	O
Android	B-Application
with	O
no	O
outward	O
connection	O
to	O
Banjo	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Salt	O
Lake	O
Tribune	O
discovered	O
that	O
Utah	O
's	O
Intermountain	O
Healthcare	O
had	O
a	O
$	O
60,000	O
contract	O
with	O
Banjo	B-Application
,	O
signed	O
in	O
April	O
2020	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Goshen	O
,	O
Indiana	O
's	O
Police	O
Department	O
signed	O
a	O
$	O
20,000	O
contract	O
with	O
Banjo	B-Application
in	O
early	O
March	O
2020	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
2020	O
,	O
Matt	O
Stroud	O
of	O
OneZero	B-Protocol
uncovered	O
CEO	O
Patton	O
's	O
involvement	O
with	O
the	O
Nashville	O
,	O
Tennessee-based	O
Dixie	O
Knights	O
chapter	O
of	O
the	O
Ku	O
Klux	O
Klan	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OneZero	B-Protocol
republished	O
a	O
picture	O
printed	O
in	O
The	O
Tennessean	O
of	O
Patton	O
at	O
an	O
Aryan	O
Nations	O
meeting	O
where	O
he	O
and	O
other	O
members	O
are	O
giving	O
the	O
Nazi	O
salute	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
2015	O
Inc	O
.	O
profile	O
,	O
he	O
said	O
he	O
wanted	O
to	O
enlist	O
after	O
seeing	O
the	O
1990	O
Gulf	B-Application
War	I-Application
on	O
TV	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
April	O
29	O
,	O
2020	O
,	O
Banjo	B-Application
stated	O
they	O
would	O
suspend	O
all	O
contracts	O
in	O
the	O
state	O
,	O
though	O
they	O
did	O
not	O
mention	O
Intermountain	O
Healthcare	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
May	O
4	O
,	O
Utah	O
's	O
Attorney	O
General	O
Office	O
asked	O
Utah	O
State	O
Auditor	O
John	O
Dougall	O
to	O
review	O
their	O
contracts	O
with	O
Banjo	B-Application
,	O
to	O
look	O
for	O
algorithmic	O
bias	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
ensure	O
privacy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
AI	B-Application
Now	O
Institute	O
linked	O
Banjo	B-Application
with	O
Clearview	O
AI	B-Application
,	O
as	O
both	O
have	O
far-right	O
ties	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
Banjo	B-Application
does	O
n't	O
have	O
explicit	O
far-right	O
algorithmic	O
goals	O
like	O
Clearview	O
does	O
,	O
it	O
still	O
raises	O
concerns	O
about	O
algorithmic	O
bias	O
,	O
even	O
if	O
unintentional	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
May	O
8	O
,	O
2020	O
,	O
Patton	O
resigned	O
from	O
the	O
board	O
and	O
as	O
CEO	O
of	O
Banjo	B-Application
,	O
removing	O
all	O
decisionmaking	O
authority	O
.	O
</s>
