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Britain’s national privacy watchdog on Monday warned Clearview AI that the controversial facial recognition company will be fined £17 million, or $23 million, for “alleged serious breaches” of the country’s data protection laws. Regulators are also demanding companies delete personal information of people in the UK.
The photos in the Clearview AI database “likely include data from many people from the UK and may have been collected without people’s knowledge from publicly available information online, including social media platforms,” the Information Commissioner’s Office said in a statement on Monday.
In February 2020, BuzzFeed News first reported that individuals in the National Crime Agency, the Metropolitan Police, and several other police forces in England were listed as having access to Clearview’s facial recognition technology, according to internal data. The company has built its business by scraping people’s photos from the web and social media and indexing them in vast facial recognition databases.
In March, a BuzzFeed News investigation based on Clearview AI’s own internal data revealed how the New York-based startup marketed its facial recognition tools – by offering free trials of mobile apps or desktop software – to thousands of officers and employees at more than 1,800 entities that funded by US taxpayers, according to data up to February 2020. In August, another BuzzFeed News investigation showed how police departments, prosecutors’ offices, and interior ministries from around the world conducted nearly 14,000 searches during the same period with Clearview AI. software.
Clearview AI no longer offers services in the UK.
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced the interim order following a joint investigation with Australia’s privacy regulator. Earlier this month, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) ordered companies to destroy all images and facial templates of individuals living in the country, following an investigation by BuzzFeed News.
“I have significant concerns that personal data is being processed in a way that no one in the UK wants,” UK Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said in a statement. “It is therefore right that the ICO is alerting people to the potential scale of this breach and the proposed action they are taking.”
Clearview CEO Hoan Ton-That said he was “deeply disappointed” by the interim decision.
“I am not happy about the misinterpretation of Clearview AI technology to the public,” Ton-That said in a statement. “I welcome the opportunity to talk with leaders and lawmakers so that the true value of this technology that has proven to be so important to law enforcement can continue to make communities safe.”
Clearview AI’s UK lawyer Kelly Hagedorn said the company was considering an appeal and further action. The ICO expects to make a final decision by mid-2022.
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