Austrian Privacy Group Files Criminal Complaint Against Clearview AI
An Austrian privacy group has filed a criminal complaint against Clearview AI, a US-based company that has been accused of illegally collecting photos and videos of European Union residents to build its facial-recognition database.
The group, known as noyb, claims that Clearview AI has violated the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by collecting and processing the data of millions of European citizens without their consent. The company has previously been found in breach of the GDPR by regulators in France, Greece, Italy, and the Netherlands, and has been issued with nearly 100 million euros in cumulative fines.
Clearview AI has also been ordered to pay a US class-action settlement in March over its data-scraping practices. The company is contesting a 7.5-million-pound UK fine, arguing that Britain’s GDPR should not apply because its facial-recognition service is sold only to foreign law enforcement.
Noyb, led by Austrian lawyer Max Schrems, a privacy advocate known for winning two landmark EU court rulings that struck down transatlantic data-transfer frameworks, says that Clearview AI has disregarded EU decisions as it lacks an EU establishment and has not paid imposed fines. The planned Austrian case seeks to test whether criminal enforcement can succeed where administrative penalties have struggled.
Austria has implemented criminal provisions for certain GDPR violations within the country. If prosecutors accept the complaint, the case could set a precedent for criminal enforcement of GDPR violations and increase pressure on non-EU firms that process Europeans’ biometric data.
"Clearview AI amassed a global database of photos and biometric data, which makes it possible to identify people within seconds. Such power is extremely concerning and undermines the idea of a free society, where surveillance is the exception instead of the rule," Schrems said in a statement.
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