Social media giant Facebook revealed on Tuesday its newest feature of facial recognition technology or facial scanning in its platform. Such feature has been made available recently to devices and applications everywhere including Apple’s iPhone X, and it is not surprising that Facebook would follow suit.
The feature prompts users when a photo of them has been posted even if they are not tagged in the photo. It is also meant to serve as a control measure for one’s image, and users will have the ability to pinpoint exactly where and how they show up, all across social media.
In strict terms, facial recognition has long been a part of Facebook’s features. For one, suggestions of contacts to tag in photos is a feature that has been available to users as early as 2010. Those who opted out of suggested tags will automatically not have their faces recognized. The social media giant said such new feature is aimed at stopping fake accounts and “catfishing” or the act of using someone else’s identity to deceive other people. It is also meant to help improve accessibility to the visually impaired.
All is not well, however, with the new feature of Facebook. It raises serious concerns about how the social media giant is becoming even bigger- emerging as a powerhouse of important, intensely personal data. Grave concerns about privacy cannot be ignored with Facebook’s new feature.
An article in AdAge points out the fears of many users. It says: “You can also look at this as a creepy reminder of exactly how much Facebook knows about you.”
The reality is with more tech companies and platforms using facial recognition, users are in a big way entrusting to the tech companies such previously private matters as faces, fingerprints, and more.
Facebook facial recognition is already allowed in the country, while it is not yet permitted in Canada and Europe. Other countries have also not yet allowed the feature since they have yet to be convinced how Facebook will comply with various privacy laws.
Along with its conveniences as a social media platform, there’s also no denying that it now feels like Facebook is undressing its users. Too creepy a feeling to like, or share.
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