Australia finds that its privacy laws apply to Clearview

In a decision that might have been overlooked by many (other than Clearview AI), Australian regulators have found that the photo-scraper is bound by that nation’s 1988 Privacy Act.

That means, according to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, that Clearview AI has been violating Australia’s Privacy Principle 3.3 – harvesting sensitive personal information from servers in Australia without consent since at least February 2020.

Australia’s Privacy Commission investigated Clearview’s practices in that nation for a year spanning 2020 and 2021. It found that Clearview failed to comply with provision of the Privacy Principle. The company also interfered with individuals’ privacy by not getting consent to gather biometric data.

It also did not collect personal information “only by lawful and fair means.”

Analysis of the decision, published by the law firm Allens Linklaters, sees an expansion of influence by the government.

A point of contention holds that all a government has to do now to prove that a company is doing business in Australia, giving the data protection authority jurisdiction, is to demonstrate that it has repeatedly collected data from Australian servers.

The company has so far denied that laws in countries outside its U.S. home base apply to it.

Article Topics

Australia  |  biometric data  |  biometrics  |  Clearview AI  |  data protection  |  facial recognition