Security News > 2021 > February > Clearview Facial-Recognition Technology Ruled Illegal in Canada

Canadian authorities have found that the collection of facial-recognition data by Clearview AI is illegal because it violates federal and provincial privacy laws, representing a win for individuals' privacy and potentially setting a precedent for other legal challenges to the controversial technology.

A joint investigation of privacy authorities led by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada came to this conclusion Wednesday, claiming that the New York-based company's scraping of billions of images of people from across the Internet represented mass surveillance and infringes on the privacy rights of Canadians, according to a release the Office posted online.

One of the biggest arguments in his company's defense that Ton-Thatand has made in published reports is that there is significant benefit in using its technology in law enforcement and national security, which outweighs privacy concerns of individuals.

The decision in Canada likely will lend heft to other legal challenges not only to Clearview's technology but facial recognition in general.

Last May the American Civil Liberties Union sued Clearview for privacy violations in Illinois, a case that is ongoing.

In November, the Los Angeles Police Department banned the Clearview AI facial recognition platform after personnel were revealed to have been using the database, citing privacy concerns and under pressure from the ACLU and other groups.

News URL

https://threatpost.com/clearview-facial-recognition-canada/163650/