European privacy group noyb has filed a criminal complaint in Austria against U.S.-based facial recognition company Clearview AI and its executives, accusing them of large-scale violations of EU data protection laws.
The complaint, announced October 28, marks the first time a criminal case has been brought against Clearview AI in Europe. The company, founded in the United States, is known for scraping billions of publicly available images from the internet to create a massive facial recognition database, reportedly containing more than 60 billion photos. Its software allows users, including law enforcement agencies and private companies, to upload a photo and instantly identify individuals, linking them to other images and online information.
European data protection authorities in France, Greece, Italy, and the Netherlands have already fined and banned Clearview AI for breaching the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), collectively imposing penalties totaling around €100 million. Austria’s Data Protection Authority also found the company’s operations illegal, while the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued its own fine—currently under appeal. Despite these rulings, noyb said Clearview has continued to operate and ignored EU enforcement actions.
“Facial recognition technology is extremely invasive. It allows for mass surveillance and immediate identification of millions of people,” said noyb founder Max Schrems. “Clearview AI amassed a global database of photos and biometric data, which makes it possible to identify people within seconds. Such power is extremely concerning and undermines the idea of a free society.”
The new criminal complaint invokes Article 84 of the GDPR and Section 63 of Austria’s Data Protection Act, which allow for criminal prosecution of serious data protection violations. Schrems said the case could lead to jail time or personal liability for Clearview’s executives if successful.
“We even run cross-border criminal procedures for stolen bikes,” he said. “We hope prosecutors take action when billions of people’s personal data was stolen.”
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