- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Adrianne Appel2023-05-11T20:37:00
France’s data protection authority (DPA) announced Wednesday it issued a fine of 5.2 million euros (then-U.S. $5.7 million) against facial recognition company Clearview AI last month for failing to comply with an October order to cease and desist from further violations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Clearview AI collects photographs from websites and then sells access to the database of images together with a search engine that can identify people. The company advertises the capabilities as helpful to law enforcement and security, but organizations and governments have raised concerns—and issued orders—that Clearview AI’s tools endanger the privacy of citizens and run afoul of regulations like the GDPR.
The company was ordered in October to stop including photos of French residents in its databases and to pay €20 million (then-U.S. $19.6 million). The French DPA, CNIL, said then if Clearview AI didn’t comply with the order within two months, it would have to pay additional fines up to €100,000 per day.
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The lack of clear regulations and guidelines for the ethical use of facial recognition technology further exacerbates concerns of discriminatory practices and potential infringements on human rights.
France’s CNIL became the fourth European data protection authority this year to fine Clearview AI over its controversial facial image aggregation practices, matching a pair of its counterparts with a €20 million (U.S. $19.6 million) penalty.
The Hellenic Data Protection Authority in Greece fined controversial facial image aggregator Clearview AI a record €20 million (U.S. $19.9 million) for unlawfully processing the biometric data of Greek citizens.
Three former executives of Chicago-based Outcome Health, a healthcare technology company, were sentenced for misleading an auditor, clients, lenders, and investors about a scheme to sell $45 million in overbilled advertisements.
A home health company operating in Indiana, Ohio, and Texas agreed to pay nearly $4.5 million to settle allegations it filed false claims by giving sports tickets and other kickbacks to assisted living facilities in exchange for referrals.
Crypto-friendly Silvergate Bank will pay a total of $63 million penalties to California and the Federal Reserve Board to settle charges that its anti-money laundering program failed to properly monitor more than $1 trillion worth of customer transactions.
