The company specialising in facial recognition, Clearview AI, was fined €30.5 million on Tuesday 3 September by the Dutch data protection authority (AP). It is accused of having created an illegal directory of billions of photographs.
Indeed, the company sells a facial recognition tool to law enforcement and security services that can identify a person from a photograph, a tool used in particular by police in the United States. However, Clearview AI’s detection capabilities depend on a considerable amount of data mined online by the company to feed its algorithms. “Clearview has a database containing over 30 billion photographs of people for this purpose. (…) without these people knowing and without their permission”According to a press release from the Dutch data protection regulator, the database contains photographs of Dutch citizens, the document adds.
In addition to the €30.5 million fine imposed on Clearview AI, the AP also ordered it to stop these violations and threatened the company with a fine of up to €5.1 million. “Facial recognition is a very radical technology that we cannot make accessible to everyone”AP President Aleid Wolfsen was quoted in the press release as saying.
Sanctioned in France
Clearview says it only provides tools to intelligence and investigative services outside the European Union. “It’s bad enoughAleid Wolfsen answers. We need to draw a very clear line when it comes to misuse of this type of technology. »
Facial recognition can help security and law enforcement investigations of criminals, she acknowledges. But she shouldn’t “certainly not” be administered “by a commercial company”. “Clearview violates the law and therefore the use of Clearview services is illegal.he also warned. Dutch organisations using Clearview can therefore expect heavy fines. »
In France, the company was fined €20 million in 2022 by the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), which ordered it to delete the personal data of French people from its database without delay. In the absence of compliance and a satisfactory response to the privacy watchdog’s requests, a new fine of €5.2 million was also decided in 2023 (a settlement of the fine linked to the first decision).
Fines were also imposed on the US firm in the UK and Italy. “The company does not appear to be changing its behavior. [selon l’AP, qui] “is looking for ways to ensure that Clearview[ra] put an end to the violations. Including investigating whether company executives can be held personally liable for the violations. »
