Canadian privacy authorities calls Clearview AI's facial recognition app illegal

Source: Clearview AI

Canada's Office of the Privacy Commissioner wants controversial facial recognition startup Clearview AI to delete Canadian faces from its database, saying it violates Canadian privacy laws by collecting its citizens' photos without their knowledge or consent. 

Clearview drew heavy criticism and lawsuits after the New York-based company claimed it collected over three billion photos of people's faces on the internet and boasted its connection to law enforcement. It also scraped images from sources like social media sites without their permission, which resulted in the company getting cease and desist letters from the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

"What Clearview does is mass surveillance, and it is illegal," Commissioner Daniel Therrien said at a news conference.

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Apple bans Clearview AI's iPhone for violating its rules

Clearview AI's use of an enterprise certificate on an iPhone (Screenshot: TechCrunch)

Controversial facial recognition startup Clearview AI found its iPhone app banned from the Apple App Store. According to Apple, the startup "violated" the terms of Apple's enterprise developer program. 

Clearview AI was allowing users to get its app outside of the App Store through its enterprise certificate, which is against Apple's policies. The use of certificate access is for users within a company and not for members of the public.

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