U.S. facial recognition company Clearview AI has been fined $33.7 million for building what Dutch data protection watchdog DPA said on Tuesday was an illegal database.

DPA also issued an additional order, imposing a penalty of up to some $5.5 million on Clearview for non-compliance.

Reuters was not immediately able to contact the company for comment but in its statement the DPA said that Clearview had not objected to its decision and would therefore be unable to appeal against the fine.

"Facial recognition is a highly intrusive technology, that you cannot simply unleash on anyone in the world," DPA Chairman Aleid Wolfsen said in a statement, which warned that using the Clearview's services is also illegal under Dutch regulations.

Ride-hailing platform Uber was fined by DPA last week for sending the personal data of European taxi drivers to the United States, in violation of EU rules.

Uber called the fine unjustified and said it was appealing.