Security News > 2021 > November > Clearview AI face-matching service set to be fined over $20m
The UK data protection regulator has announced its intention to issue a fine of £17m to controversial facial recognition company Clearview AI. Clearview AI, as you'll know if you've read any of our numerous previous articles about the company, essentially pitches itself as a social network contact finding service with extraordinary reach, even though no one in its immense facial recognition database ever signed up to "Belong" to the "Service".
Early in 2020, those behemoths firmly told Clearview AI, "Stop leeching image data from our services."
Clearview AI has apparently continued scraping internet images heartily over the 22 months since that video aired, given that it claimed at that time to have processed 3 billion images, but now claims more than 10 billion images in its database.
Had no lawful reason for collecting the information in the first place; Did not process information in a way that people were likely to expect; Had no process to to stop the data being retained indefinitely; Did not meet the "Higher data protection standards" required for biometric data; Did not tell anyone what was happening to their data.
The proposed intervention includes: the aforementioned $17m fine; a requirement not to touch UK residents' data any more; and a notice to delete all data on British people that Clearview already holds.
The Aussies don't seem to have proposed a financial penalty, but also demanded that Clearview must not scrape Australian data in future; must delete all data already collected from Australians; and must show in writing within 90 days that it has done both of those things.