Clearview AI has been fined £7.55m ($9.5m) by the UK Privacy Authority for illegally harvesting images of UK residents from social media and websites. Clearview AI has also been ordered to stop illegal biometric data collection of Britons and delete everything that was previously obtained.
“Clearview AI Inc has collected many images of people from all over the world, including the UK, from various websites and social media platforms, creating a database of over 20 billion images. The company not only allows you to identify these people, but also effectively monitors their behavior and offers this as a paid service. This is unacceptable. That is why we have taken action to protect people in the UK by fining the company and issuing a notice of enforcement. “People expect their personal information to be respected no matter where in the world their data is used,” said UK Information Commissioner John Edwards.
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) launched a joint investigation with Australia into Clearview AI in 2020. And at the end of 2021, it imposed a preliminary fine of 17 million pounds (21.4 million US dollars) on the company. The UK office noted that the company violated UK data protection laws: Clearview AI Inc’s database likely includes data from a significant number of people collected without their knowledge; there is no process to prevent data from being stored indefinitely; non-compliance with higher information security standards for biometric data, etc.
Although Clearview AI Inc no longer offers its services to UK organizations, the company has clients in other countries, so personal data from UK residents is still used.
Recall that Ukraine received free access to the Clearview AI facial recognition system to check people at checkpoints in war conditions. The founder of the company said that there was a database with a total volume of 10 billion photos, including more than 2 billion images from the Russian social network VKontakte.
The Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mikhail Fedorov noted that many Russian assassins who terrorized civilians in Bucha and Irpin had already been found .
