Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) — Clearview AI, Inc.
The Australian Information Commissioner determined Clearview AI breached the Privacy Act by covertly scraping Australians' facial images and biometric templates without consent, and ordered it to stop collecting such data and destroy all images and templates collected from Australia.
Key takeaway — how to prevent this
Biometric data (faces, iris, fingerprints) needs an explicit lawful basis or consent. Scraping or capturing it without one is unlawful across the EU/UK and many US states (e.g. Illinois BIPA) — and draws the largest fines.
Case brief
Read from the authority's press release on 2026-09-19. Every holding carries a short verbatim quote from that text.
- Decided by
- Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
- Parties
- Office of the Australian Information Commissioner v. Clearview AI, Inc.
- Decision date
- November 3, 2021
- Remedy
- Clearview AI was ordered to stop collecting facial images and biometric templates from individuals in Australia and to destroy all existing images and templates collected from Australia.
- Appeal
- Appeal status not stated
Key holdings
Clearview AI breached the Australian Privacy Act 1988 by collecting sensitive biometric information without consent and through unfair means.
“collecting Australians’ sensitive information without consent”
Clearview AI was subjected to regulatory orders requiring the cessation of image collection and destruction of Australian biometric data.
“cease collecting facial images and biometric templates from individuals in Australia, and to destroy existing images and templates collected from Australia.”
The Commissioner established that Clearview AI was bound by Australian privacy law and that the scraped biometric data constitutes personal information.
“satisfied Clearview AI was required to comply with Australian privacy law and that the information it handled was personal information covered by the Privacy Act.”
In plain English
The Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner found that Clearview AI, Inc. breached Australians' privacy under the Privacy Act 1988. Following a joint investigation with the United Kingdom Information Commissioner's Office, the regulator determined that Clearview AI unlawfully scraped individuals' biometric data from publicly available online platforms and social media websites without consent. Clearview AI built a database containing more than three billion images to power its facial recognition tool, which was trialed by certain Australian police forces between October 2019 and March 2020. Clearview AI contended that it was not subject to Australian jurisdiction as a United States company and argued that the scraped data did not constitute personal information. The Commissioner rejected these claims, emphasizing that Clearview AI conducted automated, large-scale, repetitious collections of sensitive biometric data for profit within Australia. As a result of these privacy violations, the Privacy Commissioner ordered Clearview AI to cease collecting facial images and biometric templates from people in Australia. Additionally, the company must destroy all existing facial images and biometric templates collected from Australia. The decision highlights significant privacy risks surrounding data scraping and covert biometric tracking.
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