Security News > 2020 > July > UK, Australia Investigate Clearview Facial Recognition Firm
Privacy watchdogs in Britain and Australia have opened a joint investigation into facial recognition company Clearview AI over its use of personal data "Scraped" off social media platforms and other websites.
Clearview AI Inc. came to attention after investigative reports detailed its practice of harvesting billions of photos from social media and other services to identify people.
CEO Hoan Ton-That said in a statement that Clearview "Searches publicly available photos from the internet in accordance with applicable laws. It is used to help identify criminal suspects."
Canada's federal privacy commissioner said this week a joint investigation of Clearview with provincial authorities remains open, even after the company said it would stop offering its facial recognition services in Canada.
It also intends to complete its own investigation of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's use of Clearview.