Clearview AI—Controversial Facial Recognition Firm—Fined $33 Million For ‘Illegal Database’
ForbesSep 18
Clearview AI Fined $34M by Dutch Watchdog for 'Illegal Database'
Above: In this photo illustration, the logo of the data broker company Clearview.AI is seen through a magnifying loupe as it is displayed on a screen, on April 16, 2024 in London, England. Image copyright: Leon Neal/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
US facial recognition company Clearview AI has been fined approximately $33.7M by the Netherland's data protection authority for breaching the European Union's General Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Releasing a statement on Tuesday, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) claimed that Clearview holds "an illegal database with billions of photos of faces," including Dutch citizens, which have been scraped from the internet without consent.
The Spin
Narrative A
Now totaling nearly $100M in European fines alone, Clearview AI continues to engage in highly illegal and unethical activity by refusing to remove EU data from their systems. Facial recognition is a surveillance tool that continues to gather mounting opposition — threatening individual privacy. Without better international agreements, there is little Europe can do to force the US company to either pay up or wipe its illegal data.
Narrative B
While controversial, Clearview AI has been highly useful in the law enforcement space and has even extended to the realm of public defenders. There are documented cases where people have been found innocent of crimes thanks to the firm's technology. Because of the potential benefits to law enforcement and the public, assessing Clearview's record must be viewed with context even when the current discourse focuses almost entirely on privacy issues alone.