- Australian privacy regulator ends pursuit of Clearview AI despite unresolved compliance issues.
- Clearview AI has a database of over 50 billion faces, including Australians, scraped from the internet without consent.
- A 2021 ruling found Clearview AI breached Australian privacy laws, but the company’s compliance remains unclear.
- OAIC chose not to enforce the ruling further, citing global investigations and legal actions against Clearview AI.
- Clearview AI settled a U.S. class action lawsuit without admitting wrongdoing and faces restrictions in the U.S. market.
- Growing concerns about the prevalence of AI practices like Clearview’s, especially with generative AI models.
- Australian entities are urged to protect personal data, and the OAIC is expected to issue new guidance on using AI in compliance with privacy laws.
- Concerns remain about the potential for Australians’ images stored on foreign servers to be scraped without consent.
Main AI News:
The Australian privacy regulator has decided to end its pursuit of Clearview AI, a facial recognition company that has amassed a database of over 50 billion faces scraped from the internet, including those of Australians. Despite a 2021 ruling that found Clearview AI in breach of Australian privacy laws for collecting images without consent, there is no indication the company has complied with the order to delete these images. Clearview AI did not respond to requests for comment on its compliance.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) initially ordered Clearview AI to stop collecting and deleting all existing images of Australians within 90 days. Although Clearview appealed the decision, it dropped the appeal last year, leaving the original ruling in place. Despite this, the OAIC has chosen not to invest further resources in enforcing the order, citing the company’s involvement in multiple global investigations and legal actions, including a class action lawsuit in the United States.
In the U.S., Clearview AI recently settled a class action lawsuit over privacy violations for an undisclosed amount without admitting wrongdoing. The company also reached a 2022 settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), restricting its ability to sell its database to most U.S. businesses and banning sales to any entity in Illinois for five years.
Concerns persist about the growing prevalence of practices like those employed by Clearview AI, especially with the rise of generative AI models. Australian Greens Senator David Shoebridge has called for further investigation into whether Clearview AI continues to scrape images without consent, emphasizing the need for greater transparency and vigilance.
In response, the OAIC and other regulators have urged websites to protect personal data from unlawful scraping. The OAIC plans to issue guidance for Australian entities using AI technologies to ensure compliance with the Privacy Act, particularly in developing generative AI models and chatbots.
Clearview AI had previously argued that it was not subject to Australian jurisdiction since it no longer operates in the country and had blocked its web crawler from accessing Australian servers. However, concerns remain about the potential for Australians’ images stored on servers outside the country to be scraped without their consent.
Conclusion:Â
The decision by the Australian privacy regulator to cease pursuing Clearview AI highlights significant challenges in enforcing privacy laws against global tech companies. For the market, this suggests a growing need for stronger international cooperation and regulation to address the privacy implications of AI technologies. Companies operating in AI and data-driven sectors must prepare for increased scrutiny and evolving compliance requirements as regulators seek to balance innovation with protecting personal information. This case warns that failure to comply with privacy standards could lead to reputational risks and potential legal consequences, even in markets with limited direct business operations.
