You’ve likely encountered Facebook’s Face Recognition feature in the past when uploading group photos to the social network.
Using this technology, Facebook was able to automatically recommend tags for people in your photos but now that feature is being retired.
“In the coming weeks, we will shut down the Face Recognition system on Facebook as part of a company-wide move to limit the use of facial recognition in our products. As part of this change, people who have opted in to our Face Recognition setting will no longer be automatically recognized in photos and videos, and we will delete the facial recognition template used to identify them,” Meta wrote in a news update.
While Meta says that a third of users had opted in to the feature, that means two thirds hadn’t and it’s likely this influenced Meta’s decision to scrap it altogether.
However, there is a down side to this.
The firm says that its automatic alt text system uses the Face Recognition system to let visually impaired users know who is in an image. With the technology being removed, it’s likely those users will have to rely exclusively on friends tagging themselves in photos.
Removing this technology is both good and bad, as Meta points out.
As pointed out above, facial recognition has some useful benefits but it can also be used for more nefarious purposes such as profiling civilians and infringing on their liberties.
With all of this in mind, Meta doesn’t appear to be abandoning facial recognition altogether.
Pointing to on-device facial recognition such as that which you use to unlock your smartphone, Meta says that the technology can be rather valuable.
“We believe this has the potential to enable positive use cases in the future that maintain privacy, control and transparency, and it’s an approach we’ll continue to explore as we consider how our future computing platforms and devices can best serve people’s needs. For potential future applications of technologies like this, we’ll continue to be public about intended use, how people can have control over these systems and their personal data, and how we’re living up to our responsible innovation framework,” wrote Meta.
This sounds like a good change but as with all things Facebook we’re hesitant to lump praise on the firm. The company’s name might’ve changed but it still has years of work ahead of it if it hopes to become a trusted entity in the so-called metaverse.
[Source – Meta]
