Google Ireland faced an even larger fine (€90 Million) from the French data protection authority (CNIL) in relation to its cookie consent features on YouTube. Earlier this year the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) issued a fine of €17 Million to Meta on the basis of insufficient security measures concerning EU users’ data. It also demonstrates the continued focus of regulators on holding large technology companies to account when it comes to the protection of personal information. The ICO decision comes at a time when regulators have been issuing significant fines in an effort to punish non-compliance, and to highlight to businesses the importance of ensuring accountability when it comes to using personal data. The UK is the fourth country to have fined Clearview AI along with Italy, France and Australia. asking for additional personal information, including photos, when asked by members of the public if they are on their database.Ĭlearview may challenge the ICO’s decision and so we await further developments.failure to meet the higher data protection standards required for biometric data (classed as ‘special category data’ under the GDPR and UK GDPR) and.failure to have a process in place to stop the data being retained indefinitely.failure to show a lawful reason for collecting the personal data.failure to use personal data in a way that is fair and transparent.The ICO based its decision on the following breaches of UK data protection law: The images were taken from a range of sources, including social media platforms. The ICO reported that Clearview has collected more than 20 billion images of individuals’ faces without their knowledge, uploading these images into its online database. This service is mostly used by law enforcement agencies as the database contains links showing where the individuals’ images appear, allowing them to monitor individuals’ behaviour. Additionally, the ICO issued an enforcement notice requiring Clearview to cease the collection of personal data of UK residents and to delete any data that has already been stored.Ĭlearview’s actions and reasons for the decisionĬlearview AI provides a service whereby users can upload an image of an individual’s face to find matches on their global database, which they coin the ‘the World’s Largest Facial Network’. The ICO has fined US facial recognition firm Clearview £7,552,800 for breaches of UK data protection laws, including collecting images of individuals in the UK without their knowledge and using them for its online global database.

Following our article last year concerning the joint UK and Australian investigation into Clearview AI’s alleged breaches of data protection and privacy laws, the ICO has subsequently fined Clearview more than £7.5 million.

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