The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has been investigating the Australian firm Clearview, that processes facial recognition data. The ICO has announced “its provisional intent to impose a potential fine of just over £17 million on Clearview AI Inc”.
ICO issues provisional view to fine Clearview AI Inc over £17 million | ICO
The company has already been found to have broken Australian privacy laws, but is appealing that decision.
Clearview had obtained it’s data from scaping images and information from publicly available sources, such as social media. They had also been working with a number of UK law enforcement agencies but those trials have now stopped.
From the ICO website:
Before the latest privacy laws came into effect in the UK, I had many discussions with businesses, particularly those in marketing, who possessed lists of hundreds of thousands of email addresses that they used to “market to” who objected to the new restrictions. Email marketing is not dead, but you just have to do it properly. However it is when an incident like this arises that we can all benefit from strong data privacy laws and an effective enforcement arm in the ICO, protecting us from the excesses of business and the enthusiasm of our public services.
Clive Catton MSc (Cyber Security) – by-line and other articles
Further reading:
Facial recognition firm faces possible £17m privacy fine – BBC News
