![]() The complaint questioned Clearview AI’s practice of scrapping selfies and photos from public social media accounts and including it in its facial recognition database of some 10 billion facial images. The decision stems from a complaint filed by a number of privacy organizations – including Homo Digitalis, Privacy International, Hermes Center, and noyb – in May 2021 with authorities in Greece, the U.K., Italy, Austria and France. The Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA) released a 22-page decision demanding Clearview AI stop processing biometric data on individuals in Greece and said the company must delete all the data it has already amassed. Greece's privacy authority has fined facial recognition company Clearview AI €20 million for violating parts of Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Until a global agreement on personal data protection can be organized, companies like Clearview AI will be able to use (and potentially misuse) personal images for profit.Clearview AI fined $20 million, banned from processing biometric data in Greece after GDPR violations As such, they have declined to comply with the ICO ruling and will continue to sell access to UK citizens’ data elsewhere in the world.Ĭlearly there is no simple answer to this situation at the moment. There are also questions as to how Clearview can distinguish between data belonging to UK residents and those of other individuals.Ĭlearview have been clear in their response – they have confirmed their business operates outside UK jurisdiction and that they no longer do business with British companies. Clearview AI – and their technology – is based in the US, outside the jurisdiction of the courts. It remains unclear how the ICO intends to enforce their judgement however. They then have six months to delete all data belonging to UK residents. The ICO has given Clearview 28 days to appeal the ruling. However, the service is still available for general sale to almost any business elsewhere in the world – so the collected images can still be used without permission. In the US, Clearview has already agreed that they will restrict sales of their service so it is only available to federal agencies and police departments. Less clear is which private firms have been using the data. The system is reportedly very effective – previous customers from the UK include the Metropolitan Police, the Ministry of Defence and the National Crime Agency. Using Clearview AI’s database of 20 billion photographs, customers can compare images they have collected, such as CCTV footage, to identify specific people. What were the images used for?Ĭlearview AI provides their customers with artificial intelligence-powered image matching technology. All of the images are publicly accessible and viewable – however, businesses are not legally allowed to collect and use those pictures without first obtaining permission from the owner. The collection process, known as ‘scraping’, is highly controversial. The concern is that these systems use a database of images that have been collected from Facebook, Instagram and other social media websites without the owner’s knowledge or permission. What is the problem?Ĭlearview AI offers facial recognition technology for use by businesses and law enforcement agencies across the world. The UK joins France, Italy and Australia in fining the company, after deciding their image collection practices violate local data protection laws. ![]() The ruling by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s data protection regulator is the fourth such judgement against Clearview AI. Clearview AI were also ordered to pay a fine of £7.5 million for harvesting photos and images from social media sites without permission. A US-based company has been ordered to delete all the personal data they have collected from UK citizens. ![]()
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