Skip to main content

Clearview AI, the facial recognition company that scraped billions of faces off the internet, was just hit with a data privacy complaint in Europe

* Controversial facial recognition firm Clearview AI was hit with a data privacy complained filed to France's privacy regulator on Wednesday. * Clearview AI is a US facial recognition company with a database made up of billions of photos scraped from the internet. It sells access to this database to law enforcement agencies. * The complaint was filed by Zoé Vilain, the chief privacy and strategy officer at privacy app Jumbo, after she discovered her face was in Clearview AI's database. * Vilain tried to use Europe's GDPR data rules to request access to her information, but claims that Clearview AI was uncooperative in granting access. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Clearview AI, the facial recognition company that built a product it described as a "search engine for faces" by scraping billions of photos off the internet, has been hit by a privacy complaint in Europe. The complaint was filed with French data privacy regulator (CNIL) on Wednesday by Zoé Vilain, chief privacy and strategy officer at Jumbo Privacy. Jumbo is a startup that helps people manage their privacy on apps and sites. Clearview AI first came into the public eye in January, when the New York Times published an exposé on the company. Clearview AI's app allows users to upload a photo of a person, and the app will then use facial recognition to find any other pictures on the internet of that person. The news about Clearview AI drew outrage and concern from critics, as the billions of images used for its database were scraped without the subjects' consent. The firm was hit in February by cease-and-desists from Google and Facebook. Vilain, who is based in Paris, decided to ask Clearview AI if its database included pictures of herself. She told Business Insider that after Jumbo sent an initial request on her behalf and then four reminders, Clearview told her that she was in its database. Jumbo then made a formal subject access request. Subject access requests are a legal process available to EU citizens under Europe's GDPR privacy regulations, which effectively force companies to tell individuals what data they hold on them and how it is used. According to Jumbo, Clearview AI did not cooperate with Vilain's request. "Clearview was extremely uncooperative in our quest to exercise Zoé's legal rights. It took us no less than four months of work, nine email exchanges, photo evidence sent, and many other pieces of personal identification elements provided," Jumbo said in a blog post. Vilain supplied Clearview AI with her first and last name, her email address, her postal address, and IP address. Jumbo then sent a formal notice to Clearview AI saying it was not complying with its legal obligation to allow Vilain access to and potential deletion of her data. Clearview AI subsequently sent back a PDF with three photos, one of which was not Vilain, Jumbo claimed. "As for additional information in regards to who the information had been shared with and their legal basis for the data collection, a link was provided to a one page privacy policy without relevant information," Jumbo added. The privacy firm then decided to "take the fight to relevant authorities." The company said: "We have therefore filed a formal complaint this week before the French Data Protection Authority, the CNIL, in order to put Clearview in the spotlight and to be able to properly defend the privacy of its users against these kinds of illegal practices." Should France's data authority find that Clearview AI has breached European privacy rules, the company could face millions of dollars in fines. Severe breaches can result in fines of up to 20 million euros ($23 million), or 4% of the company's worldwide annual revenue, whichever is higher. Clearview AI was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Business Insider. Clearview AI is already facing regulatory scrutiny in multiple countries. Canada launched an investigation into the company in February, causing it to shutter its business in Canada earlier this month. Last week the UK and Australia's data watchdogs also announced they were launching a joint probe into the company. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Why thoroughbred horse semen is the world's most expensive liquid
https://bit.ly/2AYHepc

Popular posts from this blog

Apple has backed down in its latest developer fight, apologizing to WordPress after it pressured the website-builder to add in-app payments

* Apple has apologized after it tried to force WordPress to add in-app payment options to a free app. * WordPress' founder said on Friday that Apple was refusing to allow any updates to the WordPress iOS app until the website builder added in-app purchases, from which Apple takes a 15-30% commission. * Apple is in a fierce fight with developers including "Fortnite" maker Epic Games and Spotify over its rules on in-app purchases. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Apple has backed down in its latest skirmish with a developer over its App Store rules. The tech giant on Sunday issued a rare apology to WordPress after it pressured the website builder to add payment options to its free iOS app, or else be blocked from updating. "We believe the issue with the WordPress app has been resolved," an Apple spokesman told The Verge. "Since the developer removed the display of their service payment options from the app, it is now a free st...
Read more

SpaceX has a 'go' from NASA to return 2 astronauts to Earth on Sunday as Hurricane Isaias threatens several Florida splashdown locations

* NASA on Saturday gave SpaceX a "go" to undock the company's first crewed space mission, called Demo-2, and land it on Sunday evening. * Hurricane Isaias complicated original plans to return two astronauts to Earth aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon spaceship in the Atlantic Ocean. * Elon Musk's aerospace company may now try to splash down NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley in the Gulf of Mexico. * Two out of seven total landing sites near Florida must have good weather conditions, and NASA has until about 5 p.m. ET on Saturday to call off the undocking. * Should the weather worsen, NASA and SpaceX can try again a day later or some other date over the next two months. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have a "go" to return to Earth this weekend and wrap up an historic space mission for both NASA and SpaceX.  Behnken and Hurley launched to orbit aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon vehic...
Read more

What an independent contractor actually is and how it's classified under California's Assembly Bill 5, the gig worker law Uber, Lyft, and others are fighting with a November ballot measure

* California's Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) went into effect in January, adopting a narrow definition of independent contractor that forces Uber and other gig economy businesses to choose between reclassifying workers as employees or risking significant liability for misclassification. * The law serves as a reminder to California businesses to be careful when classifying workers as contractors.  * Classifying independent contractors falls into two main categories: the "right to control" test (often called the "IRS test") and the tougher "ABC test" recently adopted in AB5. * Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash have recently poured $30 million into Proposition 22 — a ballot measure intended to exempt major ridesharing and food delivery companies from AB5. If California residents vote the measure into effect in November, Uber and Lyft can continue classifying drivers as contractors.  * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. In September 2019, Californ...
Read more