ICO AND OAIC OPEN A JOINT INVESTIGATION INTO CLEARVIEW AI

09.07.2020

In the joint statement dated 09.07.2020, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) and the Australian Information Commissioner (“OAIC”) announced that they have opened a joint investigation into the personal information handling practices of Clearview AI Inc., focusing on the company’s use of ‘scraped’ data and biometrics of individuals.

Clearview AI uses its facial recognition software to help law enforcement match photos of unknown people to other images online by using the company’s database of photos which have been taken from publicly accessible social media platforms, including Facebook, and other websites.

Background

  • Clearview’s facial recognition app allows users to upload a photo of an individual and match it to photos of that person collected from the internet. It then links to where the photos appeared. It is reported that the system includes a database of more than three billion images that Clearview claims to have taken or ‘scraped’ from various social media platforms and other websites.
  • The joint investigation will be conducted in accordance with the Australian Privacy Act 1988 and the UK Data Protection Act 2018. It will be conducted under the Global Privacy Assembly's Global Cross Border Enforcement Cooperation Arrangement and the MOU between the OAIC and the ICO.
  • The OAIC and ICO will engage with other data protection authorities who have raised similar concerns, where relevant and appropriate.

You can reach the statement here.

Should you have any queries and/or remarks, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Kind regards,

Zumbul Attorneys-at-Law

info@zumbul.av.tr