Australian privacy watchdog launches investigation into Clearview AI – Security – Software

Australia’s privacy watchdog will probe the private facts handling procedures of Clearview AI immediately after many policing companies admitted to obtaining employed the controversial facial recognition software.

The Office of the Australian Facts Commissioner (OAIC) on Thursday opened a joint investigation into the software with the United Kingdom’s Facts Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The software, which is focused at law enforcement companies, is able of matching visuals with billions of many others from across the net, together with social media, to uncover persons of desire.

As element of the probe, OAIC and its abroad counterpart will search at Clearview AI’s “use of ‘scraped’ data and biometrics of individuals”, as perfectly as how it manages private facts extra broadly.

“The investigation highlights the worth of enforcement cooperation in defending the private facts of Australian and United kingdom citizens in a globalised data atmosphere,” the OAIC explained in a brief assertion.

“In line with the OAIC’s privacy regulatory action policy, and the ICO’s communicating our regulatory and enforcement action policy, no additional remark will be built while the investigation is ongoing.”

The investigation follows preliminary enquiries by OAIC previously this calendar year immediately after the software was uncovered to have been employed by 2200 law enforcement companies globally, together with the Australian Federal Police and the Queensland, Victoria and South Australia law enforcement forces.

When the 4 policing companies in the beginning denied that the software experienced been employed, the AFP and Victoria Police have since been forced to admit to obtaining briefly trialled the software from late 2019.

The AFP confirmed in answers to questions on see that seven officers from the Australian Centre to Counter Baby Exploitation experienced employed the software to carry out searches immediately after currently being sent trial invites from Clearview AI.

Victoria Police, likewise, confirmed in a liberty of facts request that many officers from the Joint Anti-Baby Exploitation Group experienced run extra than 10 searches applying the software immediately after signing up.

Each companies stressed that Clearview AI experienced not been adopted as an business merchandise and that no official professional agreements experienced been entered into.