Clearview AI
Definition
New York company that built a face-recognition database of approximately 30 billion images scraped from public websites without consent; subject to BIPA class action (settled 2022), GDPR fines in Italy (EUR 20M) and the UK (GBP 7.5M), and regulatory findings of unlawful collection in Canada and Australia.
- Images in database
- Approximately 30 billion facial images
- Major settlements/fines
- BIPA class action settlement (2022), EUR 20M (Italy), GBP 7.5M (UK)
- Collection method
- Web scraping from public websites without consent
- Jurisdictions with enforcement action
- US, UK, Italy, France, Greece, Canada, Australia
Common questions
What is Clearview AI and how did it build its database?+
Clearview AI is a US-based facial recognition company that scraped approximately 30 billion images from publicly accessible websites, including social media, without consent from the people in those photos. Law enforcement agencies used the database to identify suspects and persons of interest.
What legal trouble has Clearview AI faced?+
The company settled a major BIPA class action lawsuit in 2022 in Illinois. It also faced GDPR fines of EUR 20 million in Italy and GBP 7.5 million in the UK, and was found to have violated privacy laws in Canada and Australia. Regulators determined the image collection violated consent requirements across multiple jurisdictions.
Why does Clearview AI matter in forensic casework?+
While law enforcement agencies have used Clearview's database for suspect identification, courts and regulators worldwide have scrutinized the tool's legality and ethics. The case illustrates tensions between investigative efficiency and privacy rights, plus the legal risks agencies face when using third-party biometric databases built without proper consent.
Related terms
- BIPA
- Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (740 ILCS 14, 2008). Requires informed written consent before collecting biometric identifiers and prohibits their sale. The...
- Aadhaar
- India's national biometric identity programme, administered by UIDAI. Links a 12-digit UID to 10 fingerprints, iris scans, and a facial photograph for...
- AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System)
- An automated system that compares a fingerprint query (typically a latent print from a crime scene) against a reference database to identify...
- Conformity Assessment
- The process by which a provider of a high-risk AI system (such as a face recognition database for law enforcement) demonstrates compliance...
- Daubert Standard
- The US federal evidentiary standard (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) requiring that expert testimony be based on scientifically valid methods with...
- Disparate Impact
- A legal and statistical concept describing a policy or practice that has a disproportionate adverse effect on a protected group, regardless of...
- DPDP Act 2023
- Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023. India's general data protection statute, in force in phases from 2024. Applies to IoT-collected personal data...
- EU AI Act 2024
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the first comprehensive AI regulatory framework, which prohibits real-time biometric identification in publicly accessible spaces with three narrow exceptions,...
- EU AI Act Art 10 (Training Data Requirements)
- Provision requiring that training, validation, and testing datasets for high-risk AI systems be relevant, representative, free of errors, and complete, with appropriate...
- False-Positive Rate (FMR)
- In biometric verification: the probability that a comparison of images of two different individuals is incorrectly declared a match. In forensic identification,...
- Fitzpatrick Scale
- A skin-tone classification system originally developed by dermatologist Thomas B. Fitzpatrick in 1975 (initially covering four types for UV response in phototherapy),...
- GDPR Article 9
- The EU General Data Protection Regulation provision classifying biometric data used for unique identification as a special category requiring explicit consent or...
Explained in these topics
- Bias and Disparate Impact in Face and Fingerprint MatchingNew York company that built a face-recognition database of approximately 30 billion images scraped from public websites without consent; subject to BIPA class...
- Biometric Evidence in Court: EU AI Act, DPDP and US StatutesA US company that built a face recognition gallery of 30+ billion images scraped from social media without consent, found to violate BIPA (Illinois), GDPR/nati...
- Major Biometric Casework: Golden State Killer and Clearview AIA US-based facial recognition company that scraped approximately 3 billion facial images from publicly accessible websites to build a law enforcement identific...