Clearview AI fights £7.5m UK privacy fine over scraped web photos
US tech firm Clearview AI is challenging a UK privacy watchdog ruling that found it breached GDPR rules by collecting and using images of UK residents scraped from the internet and social media. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) imposed a £7.5m fine on the US-based tech company in May 2022 and asked it to delete UK residents’ [...]
Clearview AI, a US tech company, is contesting a £7.5 million fine imposed by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in May 2022. The fine was levied due to the company's alleged breach of GDPR rules by gathering and utilizing images of UK residents from the internet and social media. The ICO also requested Clearview AI to delete UK residents' data from its global online database, which was used for facial recognition.
The company, which primarily builds and sells a database of images for facial recognition technology to law enforcement and government agencies outside the UK, appealed the fine and enforcement notice in 2023, arguing that the ICO lacked the power to enforce against a company operating in a different jurisdiction. However, the Upper Tribunal overturned this decision in October 2025, ruling that the regulator had jurisdiction over the US tech firm.
The court determined that Clearview AI's collection and storage of images of UK residents constituted 'behavioural monitoring' under the GDPR. The case may have implications for other AI firms that engage in similar activities, according to Nicola Cain, a chief executive at Handley Gill legal consultancy firm. Should the ICO's argument that systematic scraping of online data constitutes behavioural monitoring prevail, the Clearview AI fine could be just the beginning of similar fines.
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