An Australian regulator has cracked down on a US facial recognition company for collecting sensitive information without consent

ClearView is a privately owned U-S company that collected information about Australians but didn’t check whether its matches were accurate.

The Australian Information Commissioner has ordered the company to stop collecting images from websites, and destroy data collected in the country.

It follows an investigation that found it breached privacy laws.

The practices fell “well short of Australians’ expectations” and carried “significant risk of harm to individuals” including venerable groups like children and victims of crime.

The images were able to be searched on ClearView A-I database.

The move shows a growing pushback by regulators against the controversial technology, which is being used or tested by law enforcement agencies around the world.

ClearView have not publicly commented on the situation.