Sovy recognised by KuppingerCole Independent Analysts More Info
  • Home
  • |
  • Log In
  • |
  • Contact
  • |
  • 0
Sovy
  • Products
    • Sovy GDPR Privacy Essentials℠
    • Sovy Academy℠
    • Sovy Advisory Services
    • All Products
    • Free GDPR Scan
    • Free GDPR Readiness Survey
  • Resources
    • Free GDPR Scan
    • Free GDPR Readiness Survey
    • Knowledge Portal
    • Data Privacy News
  • Pricing
  • About Sovy
    • Mission
    • Team
    • Investor Relations
    • Partnerships
    • Contact Us
  • Products
    • Sovy GDPR Privacy Essentials℠
    • Sovy Academy℠
    • Sovy Advisory Services
    • All Products
    • Free GDPR Scan
    • Free GDPR Readiness Survey
  • Resources
    • Free GDPR Scan
    • Free GDPR Readiness Survey
    • Knowledge Portal
    • Data Privacy News
  • Pricing
  • About Sovy
    • Mission
    • Team
    • Investor Relations
    • Partnerships
    • Contact Us

Data Privacy News

February 16, 2021

Clearview AI accused of ‘’illegal mass surveillance’’

The tech firm Clearview AI, which created a controversial facial recognition technology, is accused of conducting “mass surveillance’’ in multiple countries.

A Canadian criminal investigation found that the New York-based company violated the personal data protection law.

Daniel Therrien, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada stated ‘’What Clearview does is mass surveillance, and it is illegal. It is an affront to individuals’ privacy rights and inflicts broad-based harm on all members of society, who find themselves continually in a police line-up. This is completely unacceptable.’’

The investigation indicated that Clearview AI set up a database of over three billion images of faces, including a large number of Canadians. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had access to these images and confirmed that they had used this technique to search for certain individuals in their investigations.

Clearview’s attorney, Doug Mitchell, stated that the company no longer operates in Canada and that the collected data can be usable in some investigations. The company has also stated that its activities did no harm to individuals and declined to comply with the Canadian government’s request to end the data collection and delete the images.

Similarly, security researcher Matthias Marx filed a complaint with the German regulators (Bundesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit – ‘BfDI’) that raised questions about the use of personal data without consent. “The regulator concluded that Clearview had acted illegally by failing to obtain Marx’s consent before processing his biometric information.’’

In France, another complaint was filed with the CNIL (Commission Nationale de l’informatique et des Libertés), in July 2020, by Zoé Vilain, the Privacy & Strategy Officer and VP at Jumbo Privacy. Ms. Vilain found that she was also included in the Clearview’s facial recognition database.

After four months of discussions and emails, in which Ms. Vilain asked the company for details about the data collected, Clearview sent three photos of Ms. Vilain back to her. She claims that ‘’ One photo was of an entirely unrelated person.”

Additionally, last year British and Australian regulators also announced the opening of similar investigations.

According to Alan Dahi from NOYB, the Austrian non-profit organization for digital rights, Clearview AI’s process violates the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), stating ‘’Europeans are having their photos harvested for a purpose they never intended or even contemplated.’’

In the United States, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the company as well, for violating Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). “We’re not suing them for taking or using photographs from the internet.” “What we’re complaining about is that they take the photographs and, using their own proprietary algorithm, turn them into face templates that are unique measurements of a person’s facial characteristics and can be used to match faces’’, said ACLU’s Glenberg.

Privacy rights are a growing concern internationally, it is important that all businesses big and small understand their obligations and comply with regulatory requirements.

 

Sovy can help you get compliant and stay compliant using our on-line tools, including:

  • Walk-through a data mapping exercise and build your data inventory.
  • Build all the policies you need under the GDPR, including a privacy policy, data protection policy, and data breach response forms.
  • Train your employees with industry-standard eLearning courses.
  • Maintain your compliance program in the cloud
  • Manage cookie consent and data rights

We also offer advisory services in compliance, governance risk, adverse event and remediation.

Find out how the Sovy GDPR Privacy Essentials can help you or- Get in touch with us for more information.

 

Sources :

https://digitalprivacy.news/2021/02/09/clearview-ais-biometric-database-ruled-illegal-in-canada-eu/amp/

https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/opc-news/news-and-announcements/2021/nr-c_210203/

https://www.aclu.org/cases/aclu-v-clearview-ai

https://blog.jumboprivacy.com/jumbo-privacy-brings-a-formal-complaint-against-clearview.html

 

Clearview AI data breach data privacy data protection facial recognition GDPR
Previous StoryEDPB launches guidelines on Examples of Data Breach notification
Next StoryTik Tok Accused of Noncompliance with the GDPR

SEARCH

CATEGORIES

  • 2020 (14)
  • CCPA (5)
  • Charities (1)
  • Coronavirus (3)
  • COVID-19 (3)
  • Events (1)
  • GDPR (52)
  • Google (1)
  • Guidance (2)
  • New Bytes (35)
  • News & Blog (49)
  • Opinions (26)
  • Workplace Conduct (1)

TAG CLOUD

2020 BEUC Brexit CCPA Charities China CJEU Clearview AI CNIL cookies coronavirus COVID-19 cybersecurity data breach data privacy data protection DfE DPC EDPB Facebook facial recognition fine fines GDPR Google guidance H&M IAPP ICO LGDP LGPD mark zuckerberg Marriot marriott Microsoft notification online education oracle PIPEDA salesforce Schrems II tik tok Uber UK vodafone italy

ARCHIVES

  • April 2021 (1)
  • February 2021 (2)
  • January 2021 (3)
  • December 2020 (3)
  • November 2020 (4)
  • October 2020 (4)
  • September 2020 (1)
  • August 2020 (1)
  • July 2020 (2)
  • June 2020 (3)
  • May 2020 (2)
  • April 2020 (2)
  • March 2020 (1)
  • February 2020 (1)
  • January 2020 (3)
  • December 2019 (3)
  • November 2019 (1)
  • July 2019 (3)
  • May 2019 (3)
  • March 2019 (2)
  • January 2019 (3)
  • December 2018 (3)
  • November 2018 (2)
  • September 2018 (1)
  • July 2018 (1)
  • June 2018 (2)

LATEST POSTS

  • Is The GDPR Good For Business?
  • Tik Tok Accused of Noncompliance with the GDPR
  • Clearview AI accused of ‘’illegal mass surveillance’’
  • EDPB launches guidelines on Examples of Data Breach notification
  • GDPR at the End of 2020

QUICK LINKS

  • About Us
  • Resources
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Manage Consent
  • Contact Us

Sovy GDPR Privacy Essentials

  • Subscription Benefits
  • Pricing
  • Log in
  • GDPR for Small Businesses
  • GDPR for Enterprises
  • GDPR for Sole Traders
  • GDPR for Charities

SOVY LOCATIONS

Ireland HQ

Registered Office
St Gall's House
St Gall Gardens South
Milltown, Dublin 14
D14 Y882

Trading Office
Meath Enterprise Centre
Trim road, Navan
Co. Meath, C15 TKX6
Ph: +353 (0)1 669-4774

Brussels

Rond-Point Schuman 11
1040 Brussels
Belgium

London

Registered Office
Kemp House
152-160 City Road
London EC1V 2N

Trading Office
9-10 Staple Inn
2nd Floor
London WC1V 7QH

New York

NY Metropolitan Area
2037 Lemoine Ave
Suite 452,
Fort Lee, N.J. 07024, USA

ASSOCIATIONS

Copyright © 2020 Sovy Trust Solutions Limited. All Rights Reserved. Registered in Ireland, No. 610835 and No. 605069