The UK’s data watchdog has fined a facial recognition company ￡7.5m (about US$9.47 million) for collecting images of people from social media platforms and the web to add to a global database.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) also ordered US-based Clearview AI to delete the data of UK residents from its systems. Clearview AI has collected more than 20bn images of people’s faces from Facebook, other social media companies and from scouring the Web.
John Edwards, the UK information commissioner, said Clearview’s business model was unacceptable. “Clearview AI Inc has collected multiple images of people all over the world, including in the UK, from a variety of Web sites and social media platforms, creating a database with more than 20bn images,” he said.
Photo: AP 照片：美聯社
“The company not only enables identification of those people, but effectively monitors their behavior and offers it as a commercial service. That is unacceptable. That is why we have acted to protect people in the UK by both fining the company and issuing an enforcement notice.”
Announcing its provisional decision last year, the ICO said Clearview AI’s technology had been offered on a “free trial basis” to UK law enforcement agencies, although that trial has been discontinued.
Clearview AI customers can upload an image of a person to the company’s app, which is then checked against a database. The app then provides a list of images deemed similar to the photo provided by the customer, with a link to the websites where the images came from.
Photo: Reuters 照片：路透
The ICO said Clearview AI broke UK data protection laws in several ways, including: failing to use information of UK residents in a fair and transparent way; failing to have a lawful reason for collecting that information; and failing to have a process in place to stop the data being retained indefinitely.
Hoan Ton-That, Clearview AI’s chief executive, said: “I am deeply disappointed that the UK Information Commissioner has misinterpreted my technology and intentions … I would welcome the opportunity to engage in conversation with leaders and lawmakers so the true value of this technology, which has proven so essential to law enforcement, can continue to make communities safe.”
(The Guardian)
Photo: Reuters 照片：路透
英國資料監管機構對一家人臉辨識公司處以七百五十萬英鎊﹝約台幣兩億七千七百六十六萬元﹞的罰款，因該公司收集社群媒體平台及網路上的人像，將其納入一全球資料庫。
英國的資料保護組織資訊委員會（ICO）還勒令總部位於美國的Clearview AI 將其系統中英國居民的資料刪除。Clearview AI 已由臉書及其他社群媒體公司與網路搜尋中收集了超過兩百億張人臉圖像。
英國資訊委員會主管約翰‧愛德華茲表示，Clearview AI的商業模式是令人無法接受的。「Clearview AI公司從各式網站及社群媒體平台收集了包括英國在內的世界各地人們的許多圖像，來創建一個有超過兩百億張圖像的資料庫」，他說。
「該公司不僅可以辨識這些人，還能有效監控其行為並當做將商品來販賣。這令人無法接受。這就是為什麼我們採取行動保護英國人民，對公司處以罰款並發出強制執行令」。
ICO在去年宣布暫做出此決定時，便表示Clearview AI已提供技術給英國執法機構「免費試用」，雖然該試用已停止。
Clearview AI的客戶可將人的影像上傳到該公司的應用程式，該程式便會根據資料庫進行檢查，然後提供一個清單，列出與客戶所提供照片相似的影像，以及該影像來源網站之連結。
ICO表示，Clearview AI在許多方面都違反了英國資料保護法，包括：未能以公平和透明的方式使用英國民眾的資訊、沒有收集該資訊的合法理由，以及未能制定流程來防止資料被無限期保留。
Clearview AI 執行長宦孫至表示：「我對英國資訊委員會主管誤解我的技術和意圖深感失望……我希望能有機會與領導人和立法者進行對話，讓他們了解這項技術的真正價值，讓它可以繼續確保社區安全；這技術已證明對執法至關重要」。
（台北時報林俐凱編譯）
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