Forbes StaffThe Dutch data protection watchdog has accused facial recognition app Clearview AI of creating an “illegal database” of billions of photos of faces.
Clearview AI, a facial recognition app, recently came under the radar of the Dutch data protection watchdog. On Tuesday, the Netherlands’ Data Protection Agency (DPA) fined Clearview AI 30.5 million euros ($33.7 million), alleging it had an “illegal database” of billions of photos and faces.
The Netherlands’ Data Protection Agency (DPA) banned Clearview AI services.
The Netherlands’ Data Protection Agency, apart from levying a heavy fine on Clearview AI, has also warned Dutch companies using the app’s services that it is banned. The data agency said that New York-based Clearview AI “has not objected to this decision and is therefore unable to appeal against the fine.” However, in a statement emailed to The Associated Press, Clearview’s chief legal officer said that the decision is “unlawful, devoid of due process and is unenforceable.”
The data agency said Clearview AI amounted to severe breaches.
The Dutch agency said that building and insufficiently informing those whose images appear in the database amounts to severe breaches of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. In a statement, Aleid Wolfsen, DPA chairman, said, “Facial recognition is a highly intrusive technology that you cannot simply unleash on anyone in the world.” He added, “If there is a photo of you on the Internet — and doesn’t that apply to all of us? — then you can end up in the database of Clearview and be tracked. This is not a doom scenario from a scary film. Nor is it something that could only be done in China.”
The DPA continued that if Clearview AI doesn’t halt the regulation breaches, it will face noncompliance penalties of up to 5.1 million euros ($5.6 million) on top of the fine.
