noyb Opens Criminal Case against Clearview AI

None Of Your Business, the organisation fronted by Austrian lawyer and privacy activist Max Schrems, has filed a criminal complaint against facial recognition company Clearview AI, escalating pursuit of a firm which has been fined by a number of European prosecutors, and refused to pay.

Schrems (pictured) is famous for bringing down the Privacy Shield system regulating data transfer between the US and EU - this was struck down by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in the Schrems II decision of July 2020 - and for a number of other high profile defences of privacy, including legal action two years ago against Irish budget airline Ryanair, also over its use of facial recognition. Earlier this month the organisation was successful in getting a judgement from the Austrian DPA that Microsoft 365 Education illegally tracks students and uses student data for the company's own purposes.

Of the latest new case, NOYB states: '[Clearview AI] is known for scraping billions of photos of Europeans and people around the world on the Internet - and selling its facial recognition system to law enforcement and state actors. Several EU data protection authorities have already imposed fines and bans on Clearview AI. But the US company simply ignores these actions - given the lack of enforcement.' The company has been fined by the DPAs of France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK, and deemed illegal by the Austrian authority. The organisation notes that Clearview claims to have collected more than 60 billion photos, allowing customers to identify individuals by uploading a photo, and that it 'primarily promotes its facial recognition software as a tool for law enforcement,' but has also been 'used by companies such as Walmart [and] Bank of America'.

Schrems himself explains: 'Facial recognition technology is extremely invasive. It allows for mass surveillance and immediate identification of millions of people. 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.' He adds: 'Clearview AI seems to simply ignore EU fundamental rights and just spits in the face of EU authorities.' The only one of the above judgements the company has appealed against is that in the UK - the case is ongoing.

NOYB says EU law allows however for Member States 'to foresee criminal sanctions for GDPR breaches.' NOYB has therefore filed a criminal complaint with the public prosecutors in Austria, and says that if it is successful, 'Clearview AI and its executives could face jail time and be held personally liable, in particular if traveling to Europe.'

Details on the noyb site .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.