Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Social Media
  3. News

Facebook will stop using facial recognition by default on your photos

Allison Matyus
By

Facebook announced on Tuesday that it will stop using facial recognition by default on your photos and tagging suggestions.

In a blog post published Tuesday, Facebook said that new users who sign up and those users who had the tag suggestion setting turned on will get a notice about face recognition with transparency on how the platform uses the technology. Users will be able to easily opt-in or opt-out of these settings starting Tuesday.

Recommended Videos

Those who do not have the face recognition on will not appear in suggested tags or the Photo Review feature. 

Facebook Facial Recognition Notice
Image used with permission by copyright holder

“Our face recognition setting lets you manage not only whether Facebook uses face recognition technology on photos of you in order to suggest tags; it provides an easy on or off switch for a broader set of uses of face recognition, such as helping you protect your identity on Facebook,” Srinivas Narayanan, Facebook AI’s Applied Research Lead, wrote on Tuesday.

The updates come after Facebook was hit with a $5 billion penalty as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in July, partially over the facial recognition feature — the FTC said Facebook misrepresented users’ ability to control how their photos were used for facial recognition.

Aside from the $5 billion fine, the FTC ordered Facebook to “provide clear and conspicuous notice of its use of facial recognition technology, and obtain affirmative express user consent prior to any use that materially exceeds its prior disclosures to users,” according to an FTC press release. 

“We’ve continued to engage with privacy experts, academics, regulators and people on Facebook about how we use face recognition and the options you have to control it,” Narayanan wrote on Tuesday.

“Facebook’s face recognition technology still does not recognize you to strangers. We don’t share your face recognition information with third parties. We also don’t sell our technology,” Narayanan continued.

Facial recognition software is nothing new, and many companies have begun to use it in a variety of ways. Amazon’s facial recognition software can even detect emotions on people’s faces, including fear. 

Digital Trends reached out to Facebook for additional details on the changes made to the face recognition technology, but we haven’t heard back. 

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Allison Matyus
Allison Matyus
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Allison Matyus is a general news reporter at Digital Trends. She covers any and all tech news, including issues around social…
Modular Insta360 One R now uses A.I. for better photos, livestreams in 360
insta360 one r review inch mod 8038

Part of what makes the Insta360 One R an adaptive camera, beside the modular design, are the updates -- and the company is making good on that promise with a list of new updates it has launched. The modular action camera now uses artificial intelligence to create HDR-like photos, uses a higher bit rate for more detail, offers a new webcam mode, and can stream live videos in 360.

PureShot is a new stills mode for the modular camera that uses A.I. to increase the dynamic range of photos while reducing noise in low light. Insta360 says the mode offers a result similar to using auto exposure bracketing to combine shots in post, but is done in-camera with one tap.

Read more
Portland bans private and public use of facial recognition tech
China's coronavirus outbreak

Portland, Oregon has become the first city to declare private use of facial recognition tech unlawful. The city’s legislators have unanimously voted to pass a sweeping new law that bans both the private and public use of facial recognition.

While other cities such as Oakland, San Francisco, and Boston have already prohibited government agencies from employing facial surveillance technology, Portland is the first that has outlawed its private use.

Read more
Facebook will stop accepting new political ads in the week before Election Day
Trump with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stylized image

Facebook says it won’t accept new political advertising in the week leading up to the U.S presidential election on November 3. The move is part of a broader set of measures Facebook is announcing today to tackle election interference and voter misinformation.

“The U.S. elections are just two months away, and with COVID-19 affecting communities across the country, I'm concerned about the challenges people could face when voting,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post. “I'm also worried that with our nation so divided and election results potentially taking days or even weeks to be finalized, there could be an increased risk of civil unrest across the country.”

Read more