Security News > 2021 > February > Canada Probe Concludes Clearview AI Breached Privacy Laws
US facial recognition technology firm Clearview AI illegally conducted mass surveillance in breach of Canadians' privacy rights, Canada's privacy commissioner said Wednesday following an investigation.
"What Clearview does is mass surveillance and it is illegal," Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien told a teleconference.
An investigation by the watchdog found the New York-based firm, whose technology allows law enforcement and others to match photographs of unknown people against its databank of more than 3 billion images, had violated Canadian privacy laws.
Police forces, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and other organizations across Canada had created 48 accounts with the company.
The privacy commissioner recommended that Clearview AI stop offering its facial recognition services to Canadian clients, stop collecting images of people in Canada and delete those already in its database.
Social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn have protested against the unsanctioned use of their users' photos, but Clearview has reportedly declined to delete them.