with data protection regulators in France, Austria, Italy, Greece and the U.K. accusing the company of illegally using personal data.
Clearview AI works by scraping images from publicly available websites and social media, without consent, and sells access to the image database to law enforcement agencies and private companies who can use it as a facial recognition tool. its practices as “dishonest” and “extremely intrusive,” amounting to constant surveillance and a grave threat to personal freedom.
“Extracting our unique facial features or even sharing them with the police and other companies goes far beyond what we could ever expect as online users,” said Ioannis Kouvakas, legal officer at PI.Data protection regulators have up to three months to respond to the complaints, per EU rules. PI said it expects them to join forces in “ruling that Clearview’s practices have no place in Europe.
as 4% of the firm’s global annual revenue, and its operations in the bloc could be severely curtailed. “Just because something is online, does not mean it is fair game to be appropriated by others in any way they want to - neither morally nor legally,” said Alan Dahi, a data protection lawyer at noyb.New York Times its surprisingly far reach in 2020.