Facial recognition firm Clearview fined €30.5 million banned in the Netherlands

Dutch authorities fined US facial recognition firm Clearview AI 30.5 million euros (about $33.7 million) for illegally creating a database of billions of face photos, which they called a massive rights breach, and banned its use in the Netherlands. The Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) also warned companies working with Clearview of hefty fines. Clearview scrapes face images from the internet without permission and sells access to clients including law enforcement agencies. AP chairman Aleid Wolfsen said facial recognition is a very invasive technology, and the AP warned Clearview of further penalties of up to 5.1 million euros if it does not stop its violations.