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The American tech business Clearview AI faces a fine that reaches more than $30 million after allegedly collecting data illegally.
Based on reports, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Dutch DPA) fined the company €30.5 million after its unauthorised data collection using face recognition, including images of Dutch residents.
This American company is a technology business that specialises in facial recognition software and is popular for building a massive library of facial photos gathered from public websites. The firm could use the images to generate unique biometric IDs, allowing clients like the authorities and private businesses to identify individuals with their photos and videos.
The company’s feature has been very controversial due to privacy concerns and ethical reasons associated with people’s lack of consent or awareness of biometric data processing.
Dutch DPA explained that Clearview AI had collected the photographs of their citizens without their knowledge.
The Dutch Data Protection Authority stated that Clearview AI has garnered a vast collection of photographs containing over 30 billion images. This library of harvested photos also includes Dutch residents who do not know about the collection.
These faces are then translated into unique biometric codes utilised in facial recognition systems worldwide. These codes possibly identify individuals and tie them to internet accounts and activities.
According to the Dutch DPA, the absence of authorisation violates the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), prompting authorities in Italy and France to pay Clearview AI €20,000,000 for similar grounds.
Still, the DPA claims Clearview AI has not modified its European policies, and how biometric data is stored remains obscure. Furthermore, this Dutch agency claimed that if Clearview AI does not change its conduct and continues to violate the regulation regarding data collection, it will impose an extra €5.1 million fine.
On the other hand, a legal officer of Clearview has denied DPA’s allegation and insisted that the Dutch government has no jurisdiction or power to fine them since they do not have an operation in the Netherlands.
