Clearview AI was fined in the United Kingdom.
Clearview AI, a facial recognition business, has been fined more than £7.5 million by the UK’s privacy authority and ordered to destroy the data of UK residents.
To establish a global facial recognition database, the business collects photographs from the internet.
According to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), this violates UK data protection rules.
It has ordered the company to stop collecting and utilizing personal information about UK residents.
Use of ‘unacceptable’ data
According to the ICO, the corporation has accumulated more than 20 billion facial photographs internationally.
Clearview AI harvests publicly uploaded images from Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms, frequently without the platform’s knowledge or permission.
UK Information Commissioner John Edwards stated: “The Corporation not only identifies those individuals, but also successfully monitors their behavior and provides it as a commercial service. That is completely inappropriate.”
“People expect their personal information to be respected, regardless of where their data is utilized,” Mr Edwards continued.
According to the ICO, Clearview AI Inc no longer provided services to UK organizations, but because the company had customers in other countries, it continued to exploit personal data of UK people.
The ICO warned the company in November 2021 that it might face a fine of up to £17 million – over £10 million more than it has now been compelled to pay.
