Facebook and facial recognition

A little-known new feature of Facebook, previously only available in America, has been rolled out into other countries with little fanfare and no attempt to ask permission first, sparking privacy concerns. The software uses facial recognition to identify people in uploaded photos, then automatically tags the people it finds a match for using previous photos.

When the function was initially introduced in America, the company explained on their blog that it was possible to turn it off via the privacy settings, however no similar message has been provided for other countries. While many users will appreciate the timesaving aspect of this feature, others will be concerned that any picture taken of them will instantly be tagged as containing them as soon as it is uploaded, before they have the opportunity to decide if they want it to be.

 

Thought a few people here may be interested in this. Full Big Brother Watch artical at http://www.bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/home/2011/06/facebook-introduces-facial-recognition-software-without-asking-permission.html