The Hague, Netherlands —On Tuesday, the Dutch data protection watchdog fined facial recognition startup Clearview AI 30.5 million euros ($33.7 million) for creating an “illegal database” of billions of pictures of faces.
The Netherlands’ Data Protection Agency, or DPA, has informed Dutch companies that employing Clearview’s services is prohibited.
Clearview AI Fined $33.7 Million By Dutch Data Protection Watchdog Over ‘Illegal Database’ Of Faces
According to the data agency, Clearview, based in New York, “has not objected to this decision and is therefore unable to appeal against the fine.”
However, in an email to The Associated Press, Clearview’s chief legal officer, Jack Mulcaire, stated that the ruling is “unlawful, devoid of due process, and unenforceable.”
The Dutch agency stated that creating the database and failing to warn persons whose photographs appeared were major violations of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR.
“Facial recognition is a highly intrusive technology, that you cannot simply unleash on anyone in the world,” DPA chairman Aleid Wolfsen said in a statement.
“If there is a photo of you on the Internet — and isn’t that true for all of us? — you can end up in Clearview’s database and tracked. This is not a nightmare scene from a horror flick. “It’s not something that can only be done in China,” he remarked.
The DPA stated that if Clearview continues to violate the legislation, it would face noncompliance penalties of up to 5.1 million euros ($5.6 million) in addition to the punishment.
According to Mulcaire’s remark, Clearview is not subject to EU data protection legislation.
“Clearview AI does not have a place of business in the Netherlands or the EU, it does not have any customers in the Netherlands or the EU, and does not undertake any activities that would otherwise mean it is subject to the GDPR,” the spokesperson stated.
Clearview AI Fined $33.7 Million By Dutch Data Protection Watchdog Over ‘Illegal Database’ Of Faces
Clearview settled an Illinois complaint in June, saying that its huge photographic collection of faces violated the subjects’ privacy rights. The deal is estimated to be worth more than $50 million. Clearview did not acknowledge culpability as part of the settlement arrangement.
The Illinois case aggregated lawsuits brought across the country against Clearview, which gathered images from social media and other websites to construct a database that it marketed to businesses, individuals, and government bodies.
SOURCE | AP
