Clearview AI to give 23% stake in settlement over alleged scraping
Clearview AI has agreed to settle a major class-action lawsuit regarding the non-consensual scraping of billions of facial images from the internet. The resolution grants plaintiffs a collective equity stake and a share of future revenue, acknowledging the severe privacy violations committed by harvesting personal biometric data without user knowledge or permission. This case highlights the critical tension between rapid AI development and individual privacy rights. By forcing the company to compensate victims through ownership stakes rather than just cash damages, the settlement establishes a precedent where those harmed by data exploitation share in the potential financial gains of the offending technology, shifting accountability toward long-term corporate responsibility. The outcome is highly relevant to the open data community as it underscores the legal risks associated with publicly available data. While open data often relies on accessible information, this ruling demonstrates that using such data for invasive surveillance without consent can lead to significant legal repercussions, urging developers to reconsider the ethical boundaries of accessing and utilizing publicly scraped information for facial recognition purposes.
Source: medianama.comPublished on 2024-06-18