The UK’s national privacy watchdog warned Clearview AI on Monday that the controversial facial recognition company faces potential fines of £17 million or $23 million for “alleged serious breaches” of the country’s data protection laws. Regulators forced the company to delete personal information about people in the UK.
The Information Commissioner’s Office said in a statement that the photos in Clearview AI’s database “may contain data on a substantial number of people from the UK and may have been collected without people’s knowledge from publicly available information online, including on social media platforms”. Monday.
In February 2020, BuzzFeed News first reported that the National Crime Agency, the Metropolitan Police and several other police forces across England were listed as having access to Clearview’s facial recognition technology, according to internal data. The company has built its business by scraping photos of people from the web and social media and indexing them in a vast facial recognition database.
In March, a BuzzFeed News investigation based on Clearview AI’s own internal data revealed how the New York-based startup sold its facial recognition device to more than 1,800 executives and employees — by offering free trials for its mobile app or desktop software. US taxpayer-funded entities, according to data running through February 2020. In August, another BuzzFeed News investigation showed how police departments, prosecutors’ offices and interior ministries around the world conducted nearly 14,000 searches over the same period of time using Clearview AI. Software.
Clearview AI no longer offers its services in the UK.
The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced the provisional orders following a joint investigation with Australia’s privacy regulator. Earlier this month, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) forced the company to destroy all images and facial templates belonging to individuals living in the country, following a BuzzFeed News investigation.
“I have significant concerns that personal data has been processed in a way that no one in the UK would have expected,” Elizabeth Denham, the UK’s information commissioner, said in a statement. “The ICO is therefore right to alert people to the scale of this potential breach and the proposed action we are taking.”
Clearview CEO Hoan Ton said he was “deeply disappointed” in the tentative decision.
“I am disappointed by the misinterpretation of ClearView’s AI technology to society,” Ton-Dat said in a statement. “I welcome the opportunity to engage in dialogue with leaders and legislators so the true value of this technology, which has proven so essential to law enforcement, can continue to make communities safer.”
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 in mid-2022.
