• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Log In
  • Member Registeration
  • Account
  • Our Services
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Top Nav Social Icons

FindBiometrics

FindBiometrics

Global Identity Management

  • Biometrics
    • What are Biometrics?
    • FAQ
    • Biometric Associations
    • Companies
    • Premier Partners
  • News
    • Featured Articles
    • Interviews
    • Thought Leadership
    • Podcasts
    • Webinars
    • Year in Review
  • Applications
    • Biometric Security
    • Border Control and Airport Biometrics
    • Consumer and Residential Biometrics
    • Financial Biometrics
    • Fingerprint & Biometric Locks
    • Healthcare Biometrics
    • Justice and Law Enforcement Biometrics
    • Logical Access Control Biometrics
    • Mobile Biometrics
    • Other Biometric Applications
    • Physical Access Control Biometrics
    • Biometric Time and Attendance
  • Solutions
    • Behavioral Biometrics
    • Biometric Sensors and Detectors
    • Facial Recognition
    • Biometric Fingerprint Readers
    • Hand Readers & Finger Scanners
    • Iris Recognition
    • Biometric Middleware and Software
    • Multimodal Biometrics
    • Physiological Biometrics
    • Smart Cards
    • Vein Recognition
    • Voice and Speech Recognition
  • Stocks
  • Events
  • Companies
  • Podcasts

Facebook Gives More Users an ‘Off’ Switch for Facial Recognition

September 16, 2019

Facebook Gives More Users an 'Off' Switch for Facial Recognition

The ongoing controversy about the public use of facial recognition technology may have given Facebook a little chill in recent months, with the company recently announcing changes in how it uses facial recognition technology on its social media platform.

Essentially, the changes are about turning Facebook’s use of facial recognition into an ‘opt-in’, rather than default, feature. The company has used facial recognition for its ‘tag suggestions’ feature – designed to automatically detect Facebook users in pictures uploaded to the platform – for years; but in December of 2017 Facebook introduced a new setting for select users called ‘face recognition’, which basically gave them an on-or-off switch for whether they wanted Facebook to be able to use facial recognition on their own faces.

This face recognition feature has now been expanded to all users, with notifications being sent to those who still had the tag suggestions feature, and to new users. These users will need to turn face recognition on if they want it; otherwise they are opted out by default.

The move may be the result of a perception of growing unease about facial recognition technology among the public as the technology’s use by law enforcement authorities has become a more controversial issue. It may also be the product of Facebook’s own legal troubles over its use of facial recognition technology, with its tag suggestions feature having dragged the company into a class action lawsuit over its infringement of Illinois’ Biometric Privacy Information Act.

In any case, the effort has not been greeted with universal acclaim; the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy group, has criticized Facebook for being vague about how it will inform current Facebook users for whom the face recognition feature is already available about this functionality, if at all. But it’s undeniably a step forward in terms of user privacy, with Facebook noting in its announcement that it has been working with “privacy experts, academics, regulators and people on Facebook” about how it should use facial recognition technology, and noting that it doesn’t share this biometric data with third parties.

Sources: Facebook, Electronic Frontier Foundation

–

September 16, 2019 – by Alex Perala

Related News

  • Instagram Faces Class Action Lawsuit Under Illinois Biometrics LawInstagram Faces Class Action Lawsuit Under Illinois Biometrics Law
  • EFF Highlights Significance of Facebook Class Action LawsuitEFF Highlights Significance of Facebook Class Action Lawsuit
  • Google Settles BIPA Lawsuit for $100 MillionGoogle Settles BIPA Lawsuit for $100 Million
  • Court Allows Non-Facebook Users to Proceed with BIPA Lawsuit Against MetaCourt Allows Non-Facebook Users to Proceed with BIPA Lawsuit Against Meta
  • Facebook Weighs Privacy Risks of Facial Recognition for Smart GlassesFacebook Weighs Privacy Risks of Facial Recognition for Smart Glasses
  • Facebook’s Biometric Privacy Settlement Claimed by a Quarter of Those EligibleFacebook’s Biometric Privacy Settlement Claimed by a Quarter of Those Eligible

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Biometric, Biometric Information Privacy Act, biometrics, BIPA, face biometrics, face scanning, Facebook, facial recognition, privacy issues, social media

Primary Sidebar

Watch This Finance-Focused On-Demand Webinar

Sponsored Links

facetec logo

FaceTec’s patented, industry-leading 3D Face Authentication software anchors digital identity, creating a chain of trust from user onboarding to ongoing authentication on all modern smart devices and webcams. FaceTec’s 3D FaceMaps™ make trusted, remote identity verification finally possible. As the only technology backed by a persistent spoof bounty program and NIST/iBeta Certified Liveness Detection, FaceTec is the global standard for Liveness and 3D Face Matching with millions of users on six continents in financial services, border security, transportation, blockchain, e-voting, social networks, online dating and more. www.facetec.com

TECH5 logo

TECH5 is an international technology company founded by experts from the biometrics industry, which focuses on developing disruptive biometric and digital ID solutions through the application of AI and Machine Learning technologies.

TECH5 target markets include both Government and Private sectors with products powering Civil ID, Digital ID, as well as authentication solutions that deliver identity assurance for various use cases. 

Learn more: www.tech5.ai

Mobile ID World Logo

Mobile ID World is here to bring you the latest in mobile authentication solutions and application providers. Our company is dedicated to providing users with the best content and cutting edge information on technology, news, and mobile solutions for your mobile identity management needs.

HID logo

HID powers the trusted identities of the world’s people, places and things. Our trusted identity solutions give people convenient and secure access to physical and digital places and connect things that can be identified, verified and tracked digitally. Millions of people use HID products to navigate their everyday lives, and billions of things are connected through HID technology. https://www.hidglobal.com/

Prove Logo

As the world moves to a mobile-first economy, businesses need to modernize how they acquire, engage with, and enable consumers. Prove’s phone-centric identity tokenization and passive cryptographic authentication solutions reduce friction, enhance security and privacy across all digital channels, and accelerate revenues while reducing operating expenses and fraud losses. Over 1,000 enterprise customers use Prove’s platform to process 20 billion customer requests annually across industries including banking, lending, healthcare, gaming, crypto, e-commerce, marketplaces, and payments. https://www.prove.com/

Recent Posts

  • Signals Intelligence and Palm Reading – Identity News Digest
  • Army Sharpens Focus on SIGINT Upgrades
  • IDEMIA Wins Contract for South African Airport Biometrics Project
  • The Future of Travel – Digital and Secure
  • Worldcoin Launches $5M Grant Program for Builders

Biometric Associations

IBIA and fido

Footer

  • About Us
  • Company Directory
  • Advertise With Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Archives
  • CCPA: Do not sell my personal info.

Follow Us

Copyright © 2023 FindBiometrics