The legal battle against Clearview AI has escalated sharply, as European privacy advocacy group noyb (None of Your Business) has filed a criminal complaint in Austria against the controversial facial recognition company and its executives.
This is a significant strategic shift away from administrative fines, which have proven difficult to enforce. Clearview AI has faced numerous penalties from EU data protection authorities (DPAs) — including in France, Greece, Italy, and the Netherlands — totaling approximately €100 million for its mass-scraping of biometric data, which the DPAs found to be in violation of the GDPR. Clearview has “simply ignored” these fines, with noyb founder Max Schrems accusing the company of “spitting in the face of EU authorities.”
Austrian authorities had previously declared Clearview’s practices illegal in 2022 but did not issue a fine at the time.
Noyb’s criminal complaint leverages Article 84 of the GDPR, which allows member states to implement criminal sanctions for severe violations. The complaint cites a specific Austrian law (§ 63 of the Data Protection Act) that enables this. This move is designed to pierce the corporate veil; unlike administrative fines against a U.S.-based company with no major EU assets, a criminal complaint can target executives personally. If Austrian prosecutors pursue the case, it could result in personal liability and jail time for Clearview’s leadership, particularly if they travel within the European Union.
This action represents a novel legal test of the GDPR’s ultimate enforcement power against non-compliant foreign technology firms, potentially creating a new playbook for regulators. The move comes as Clearview continues to face scrutiny worldwide, including class action settlements in Illinois, bans upheld in Canadian provinces, and ongoing litigation in California over its business practices.
Sources: The Record, noyb.eu
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By Cass Kennedy
