After Clearview AI scandal, Commission 'in close contact' with EU data authorities

The European Commission is in consultation with EU data protection authorities following the news that US technology firm Clearview AI has scraped more than three billion facial images from social media sites including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, without obtaining the permission of users. It has also transpired following an investigation by Buzzfeed news that the company wants to expand its service to the European market, with nine European countries including Italy, Greece, and the Netherlands as potential partners. Meanwhile, EURACTIV has been informed by a US official that Clearview AI is not a member of the 2016 EU-US Privacy Shield agreement, which obliges American companies to protect personal data belonging to EU citizens, according to EU standards and consumer rights. Clearview AI has not as yet disclosed whether any of the images have been harvested from EU citizens. If this were to be the case, the software may violate the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, Article 4 (14) of which covers the processing of biometric data.