Noyb Files Criminal Complaint Against 'Law-Dodging' Clearview AI
U.S. company Clearview AI is "spitting in the face of EU authorities" by continuing to scrape people's online photos and selling its facial recognition database to law enforcement agencies and governments, Austrian privacy advocate Noyb said Tuesday as it filed a criminal complaint with Austrian public prosecutors. Clearview didn't immediately comment.
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EU DPAs have already repeatedly held that Clearview AI violates the GDPR and have imposed fines and bans, Noyb said. The company decided to appeal a decision and fine imposed by the U.K. ICO earlier this month (see 2510080016). But because EU DPAs haven't come up with a way to enforce their actions, Clearview is "effectively dodging the law," Noyb charged.
Noyb founder Max Schrems noted that the GDPR isn't limited to administrative fines but also allows criminal sanctions, and that Austria has enacted a criminal provision for certain GDPR violations that could see managers and executives face jail time.