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original title: the netherlands fined american facial recognition startup clearview ai 30.5 million euros for illegally collecting facial data

it home reported on september 3 that the netherlands data protection authority (dpa) fined the american facial recognition startup clearview ai 30.5 million euros (it home note: currently about 240 million yuan) because the company violated the general data protection regulation (gdpr).

in its announcement, the dpa explained that clearview had created an illegal database of billions of photos of faces, including those of dutch people, and had not properly informed people that their data was being used. clearview’s ceo had claimed in early 2023 that the company had 30 billion images.

clearview must immediately stop all illegal activities or face a fine of up to €5.1 million for non-compliance. aleid wolfsen, chair of the dutch dpa, said: "facial recognition is a highly invasive technology that cannot simply be used against anyone in the world. if your photo is on the internet, then you could end up in clearview's database and be tracked." he added that facial recognition can help improve security but should be handled by competent authorities "subject to strict conditions" rather than commercial companies.

the dpa further stated that because clearview had broken the law, it was also illegal to use it. wolfsen warned that dutch companies that used clearview could also face “significant fines.” clearview did not contest the dpa’s fine, so it cannot appeal.

this is not the first time clearview has been punished. in 2020, the los angeles police department banned the use of clearview, and the american civil liberties union (aclu) also filed a lawsuit against clearview, which was eventually settled with clearview stopping the sale of biometric databases to any private companies. italy and the united kingdom previously fined clearview 20 million euros and 7.55 million pounds respectively, and instructed the company to delete any data of its residents. earlier this year, the european union also banned clearview from conducting untargeted facial capture on the internet.