US-based facial recognition startup Clearview AI has been hit with a €30.5 million (£25.7 million) fine in the Netherlands, marking its largest ever in Europe over privacy issues.
Dutch data protection authority Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens unveiled the penalty on Tuesday, noting Clearview AI had breached several European rules.
According to the regulator, Clearview did not address European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) breaches after its investigation concluded.
This comes after Clearview’s database was found to contain images of Dutch citizens with an additional €5.1 million penalty being threatened if the company again fails to comply.
The fine follows penalties over similar breaches in France, Italy, Greece and the UK in 2022.
“Clearview should never have built the database with photos, the unique biometric codes and other information linked to them,” Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens said.
“This especially applies to the [face-derived unique biometric] codes.
“Like fingerprints, these are biometric data. Collecting and using them is prohibited. There are some statutory exceptions to this prohibition, but Clearview cannot rely on them.”