FinlandPublic sector2019–2020Finland's National Bureau of Investigation
Clearview AI trial to identify potential child-abuse victims
Finnish police stopped a Clearview trial and received a reprimand for unlawful personal-data processing
Problem
The National Bureau of Investigation tested facial recognition to help identify and protect potential victims of child sexual abuse.
Approach
The bureau said its child-exploitation unit used Clearview in late 2019 and early 2020. Police reported that the month-long trial was discontinued for data-protection reasons. In September 2021, the deputy data protection ombudsman reprimanded the National Police Board because the processing lacked controller approval and sufficient checks on legality and data handling. The board said it would implement the required measures and improve procedures.
Results
Takeaway
A specialist unit began testing sensitive biometric data before the responsible controller had approved the processing or established how the supplier would handle it.
Categories
- Size
- Large enterprise
- Industry
- Public sector
- Business function
- Production and quality
- Innovation type
- Process innovation
- AI technology
- Computer vision
- Adoption
- Vendor solution
- Evidence
- Regulator, audit or court
Sources
Source summaries
The regulator's account dated the trial to early 2020 and identified failures of controller approval, legal safeguards and knowledge of supplier processing. The decision required notification of identifiable data subjects and a request for deletion.
Yle reported the bureau's account of use in late 2019 and early 2020, with four users making 120 searches in a month. The Police Board said it took the reprimand seriously and would strengthen its procedures.
Police said the trial ended on the bureau's initiative after a month because of data-protection concerns. They acknowledged that information security and legal compliance had not been sufficiently established beforehand.
Full details are in the original sources.
