Netherlands fined American company 30.5m Euros for illegal data collection
The Dutch Data Protection Authority imposed a fine of 30m Euros on the American company Clearview AI, as well as a penalty of 5m Euros for illegally collecting personal information to provide facial recognition services, TASS reports
It is noted that the company offers such services on a commercial basis. To this end, a database was created with photos of billions of people, including Dutch citizens. The Data Protection Authority stressed that the existence of such a database and its use are contrary to Dutch law, since the photos were placed there without the knowledge and consent of the persons depicted on them.
"Facial recognition is a very radical technology that can't just be given to anyone in the world. If your photo is on the Internet, then you can be entered into the Clearview database and tracked," Aleid Wolfsen, the Chair of Dutch DPA, said.
At the same time, the company claims that it provides its services exclusively to intelligence and law enforcement agencies outside the European Union.
