Clearview is fined again for sucking up all the photos of Internet users


The company Clearview AI, much criticized for its activities in facial recognition, has just received a new fine, this time in the United Kingdom. He is accused of having sucked up the photos of Internet users without their authorization.

It is a verdict that could soon be found in France. On May 23, 2022, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the British equivalent of the National Commission for Computing and Liberties (CNIL), announced that it had imposed a fine of 7.5 million pounds sterling (8, 85 million euros) to the American company Clearview AI.

Clearview must remove photos of Britons

Clearview AI is a company whose business has seen significant media attention since 2020, ever since it was found to be sucking up every photograph it could find on the net to train its facial recognition algorithms. Its database would already contain more than 10 billion photos, with a goal of 100 billion in 2023.

Besides the actual fine, the ICO also required Clearview AI to delete all data belonging to UK residents. A request that could be very difficult to meet, if not impossible, because mass collection is done wildly, without asking permission and without worrying about the nationality of people.

The ICO’s decision comes days after an agreement between Clearview and the ACLU, a powerful American association working in the field of civil liberties. As part of this, the company’s highly controversial activities are curtailed in the United States. Thus, it is prohibited from marketing its solutions to the private sector or to individuals.

Facial recognition is a biometric process based on the analysis of facial features. // Source: EFF

The ICO’s decision, justified by several violations of British data protection law, is part of a more general offensive against the actions of Clearview. In addition to the legal risks incurred in the United States, regulators in Australia and Italy have also demanded that the company stop sucking everyone’s photos.

In the Italian case, Clearview argued that it had no presence in Italy or the EU, neither customers nor activity. In doing so, it believes that it is not subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). But in the UK, the situation is different, with agreements made with law enforcement agencies, such as the Metropolitan Police.

In France too, the Cnil has Clearview on its radar. At the end of 2021, the French authority gave it formal notice to stop collecting the photos on the net, under penalty of being imposed a financial penalty which could also amount to millions of euros. Since then, the file has not evolved significantly, despite the expiration of an ultimatum. However, this could soon change with a sanction.



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