Italian regulator holds out hopes to collect fine from Clearview AI

Italy data protection regulator, the Garante, has not given up on collecting the millions of euros in fines it imposed on Clearview AI three years ago for collecting the face biometrics of people in violation of the EU’s GDPR.

Italian Data Protection Authority Commissioner Guido Scorza told MLex at the IAPP Global Privacy Summit 2025 he is working with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to officially notify Clearview of the enforcement action.

The 20 million euro (roughly US$22.8 million) fine was levied by the Italy’s GPDP in 2022, following a ruling that Clearview had violated GDPR rules around transparency and limitations of purpose and storage. The company was also ordered to delete Italians’ personal data from its database.

The fine is unpaid and the data remains in Clearview’s servers, but Scorza suggests that once the American facial recognition company has been notified, a U.S. judge could issue an enforcement order, compelling its cooperation.

Scorza also expressed frustration at the lack of an international convention that the regulator can turn to for enforcement.

Clearview has never fully launched operations in Europe, and has recently pivoted towards a focus on facial recognition contract opportunities with the U.S. federal government. Meanwhile the company remains caught up in data privacy litigation on the domestic front.

Article Topics

biometric data  |  biometric identifiers  |  Clearview AI  |  data privacy  |  data protection  |  FTC  |  Garante  |  Italy  |  U.S. Government