argomento: News del mese - Diritto Internazionale e Comunitario

Articoli Correlati: GDPR - protection of personal data - facial recognition

On 10 February 2022, the Guarantor for the protection of personal data adopted an injunction order against the USA company Clearview AI Inc. imposing a fine of 20 million euros. Clearview has developed software for searching and collecting images extracted from public web sources via web scraping (such as: information sites, social media and online videos) which thanks to artificial intelligence system, allows the creation of data-based profiles biometric extracted from the image, possibly enriched by other information, such as title and geolocation of the photo, publication web page. This service is aimed at improving public safety, reducing investigation times and assisting the police in identifying criminals. The company, during the proceedings, complained about the inapplicability of Reg. (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) and the lack of jurisdiction of the Guarantor Authority since Clearview is based in the U.S.A. and has no branches in Italy or in the E.U. and, for this reason, has not appointed a representative pursuant to article 27 of the GDPR. In addition, Clearview has taken steps to block access by European IP address. Yet, since the software also allows the tracking of Italian citizens and people located in Italy, the proceedings falls within the scope of the GDPR. In addition to a pecuniary sanction, the Guarantor Authority has ordered the prohibition of further collection of images and metadata concerning people who are in the Italian territory, the prohibition of any further processing of the personal data of interested parties who are in the Italian territory through its facial recognition system, to delete personal data to interested parties who are in Italy.