Take care of your face! / The violation of the American company in collecting the faces of millions of citizens

According to Fars News Agency, quoting Euronews, France has threatened to shut down Clearview AI, Clearview, for illegally collecting citizen information and imposing heavy fines.

“This American company has collected thousands of photos of French citizens without their consent,” said the French Citizens’ Data Protection Watch (CNIL).

The official has officially instructed Clearview to delete its image database within two months and stop collecting data.

CNIL, the watchdog of French citizens’ private data protection, said in a statement that “the company has violated strict EU public data protection rules (GDPR).”

“The collection and use of biometric data is carried out without a legal basis,” the watchdog said in a statement on Thursday. “Clearview is also being held accountable for not paying enough attention to individuals’ rights, including requests for access to their data.”

The French Citizens’ Privacy Watch says it began investigating the US company in May 2020 after receiving complaints about its software.

Clearview Software Company is one of the largest artificial intelligence development companies in the world.

According to the French Citizens ‘Privacy Watch, the company has collected more than 10 billion images of citizens’ faces. These images are mostly uploaded from photos and videos online.

The company then markets the data through “face recognition software” or, for example, sells it to “law enforcement agencies to help identify criminals.”

The French Citizens’ Data Protection Watch says the vast majority of people whose pictures are taken and logged in are unaware of this.

Under EU law, of which France is a member, the company could face a fine of more than 20 million euros.

End of message /

You can edit this post