Netherlands. Massive fine for facial recognition technology company Clearview AI

Clearview AI provides facial recognition software to law enforcement, government agencies and other organizations. Its algorithm matches faces to a database of more than 20 billion images from the Internet, including social media. The company did not inform the people in its database that it was using their photos. “Facial recognition is a highly invasive technology that cannot be simply made available to anyone in the world,” DPA chief Aleid Wolfsen said in a statement quoted by Reuters. There must be clear boundaries for the misuse of this type of technology, he added. Wolfsen stressed that Clearview AI is breaking the law and using its services is illegal.

– Dutch organizations using Clearview AI can therefore expect high fines from the Dutch data protection authority, he said. The American company did not appeal the DPA's decision and has no right to appeal the fine imposed on it. In 2022. France fined Clearview AI €20 million, prohibited it from collecting and processing data on persons residing in France without a legal basis, and ordered it to delete the data of such persons.

Last week, the DPA imposed a fine of €290 million on the taxi platform Uber for sending private data of European drivers to USAwhich was deemed to violate EU privacy rules (GDPR). The company said it would appeal the decision. The Uber case was initiated in response to a complaint filed in France by a local organization human rights on behalf of over 170 drivers. The case was transferred to the DPA because Uber's European headquarters is registered in Netherlands. This is not the first penalty imposed on Uber by the DPA. In January, the Dutch office fined the company €10 million for failing to disclose how long it kept driver data in Europe and to which countries outside the EU it transferred it, AP recalled.