The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) ordered Clearview AI to remove photos taken in Australia from its database of more than 10 billion facial images, saying such actions violated Australia’s privacy laws.
Based on the Australian Privacy Act, the OAIC accuses the company, among other things, of collecting sensitive information without consent, unfairly collecting personal information, failing to inform individuals about the collection of personal information, and ultimately failing to ensure that the personal information disclosed by Clearview was accurate. Clearview is expected to seek a review of the decision.
The company’s artificial intelligence allows a user to upload a photo of a face and find matches in a database of billions of images collected from the internet and social media, and then provide links to the places where matching images have appeared online.
Although it claims to market the tool to law enforcement, revelations show that its customers are not limited to it.