Sweden, Sweden, National Operations Department and Police Region South
Swedish Police Authority
Clearview AI facial recognition app, supplied by Clearview AI
DiscontinuedRegulator findingPAI-0E59C33A
- Body
- Swedish Police Authority
- Country
- Sweden
- Area
- Sweden, National Operations Department and Police Region South
- Technology
- Clearview AI facial recognition app
- Supplier
- Clearview AI
- Status
- Discontinued
Use has ended, on the evidence of a public source. - Stage
- Withdrawn
- Since
- Autumn 2019
- Legal basis
- None established. The Police Authority told IMY that no legal assessment was made before use, and IMY found that the processing breached chapter 2, section 12 (biometric data) and chapter 3, sections 2 and 7 (first paragraph) of the Criminal Data Act (brottsdatalagen).
- Oversight
- Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection (IMY), decision DI-2020-2719 of 10 February 2021, fine of SEK 2,500,000.
- Evidence
- Regulator finding
Data protection authority, inspectorate or oversight body - Source
- IMY (Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection), decision DI-2020-2719, 10 February 2021
- Last checked
- Record code
PAI-0E59C33A
Notes
IMY's decision records that the Police Authority used the Clearview AI app on a number of occasions from autumn 2019 until 3 March 2020. Six employees of the National Operations Department (NOA) used it, five of them in operational work, including to identify victims in suspected sexual offences against children, and in Police Region South it was used in investigating sexual offences against children. IMY found that the Police processed biometric data unlawfully, did not carry out a required data protection impact assessment and lacked sufficient organisational measures. It fined the Authority SEK 2,500,000 and ordered it, by 15 September 2021, to train staff, to inform the people concerned where confidentiality rules allow, and to take steps, to the extent possible, to have the data erased from Clearview AI. The decision states that the use ended only after IMY's review began. The number of searches is not given. IMY announced the decision on 11 February 2021. This is separate from the Authority's 2026 real-time facial recognition testing.
Other systems used by Swedish Police Authority
| Deployment | Country | Supplier | Since | Status | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swedish Police AuthorityLive Facial Recognition | SwedenSweden, national | Not specified in the source | 2026 | Trial | |
| Swedish Police AuthorityAutomatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, first on the Öresund Bridge | Sweden | — | — | Operational |