The more carefully a minister chooses their words, the more carefully we pay attention. Such was the case several years ago.

In response to parliamentary questions about the use of Clearview AI by the Dutch police, the Minister for Legal Protection said that real-time facial recognition is not done in the Netherlands. A few weeks later, he was corrected by the Minister of Justice and Security. The answer had been “too broad.” (Red flag numero uno.) The minister corrected: within the police, at the time (dos), "no permission was given" (tres) for real-time facial recognition “in public spaces” (Quartets). The minister's response reinforced our suspicion, based on leaked documents held by Buzzfeed, that the Dutch police had in fact used Clearview.

What is Clearview again? It's a massive - and illegal - face database. You upload a photo of someone to the app, and Clearview gives you back a list of online sources where that same face appears. Illegal, super creepy and a huge security threat: not exactly a service that's appropriate for the police to use.

As the Dutch police over the years has become increasingly interested in facial recognition technology, we filed a tip with the data protection authority (DPA) in April of last year. About Clearview specifically, but we also asked the DPA to more broadly look into how the police is using facial recognition technology. Last week the DPA announced it's fining Clearview 30.5 million euros. Clearview deserves every penny of it. We hope the fine sends a signal, especially to law enforcement agencies, that the use of systems like these is not okay. But we are even happier with the fact that the DPA is looking beyond Clearview. Before the summer, it sent a letter to the Minister of Justice and Security asking for more information about the police's use of technology. This as part of her ambition to pay “extra attention to a defensible balance between freedom and security in 2024.” Our second tip for the DPA? We'll be needing some of that attention in 2025, too.

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