Facebook announce that it is shutting down its facial recognition system, which automatically identifies users in photos and videos, citing growing Privacy concerns about the use of such technology.
Jerome Pesenti, VP of artificial intelligence at Facebook, Said in a blog post :
“Regulators are still in the process of providing a clear set of rules governing its use,”
“Amid this ongoing uncertainty, we believe that limiting the use of facial recognition to a narrow set of use cases is appropriate.”
The removal of face recognition by Facebook comes as the tech industry has face a calculating over the past few years over the ethics of using the technology.
Facial recognition technology which is popular among retailers, hospitals, and other businesses for security purposes could compromise privacy, target marginalised groups, and normalise intrusive surveillance.
IBM has permanently end facial recognition product sales, and Microsoft and Amazon have suspends sales to police indefinitely.
This news also comes as Facebook has been under intense scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers over user safety and a wide range of abuses on its platforms.
The removal will roll out globally and is expects to be complete by December.
Privacy advocacy and digital rights groups welcomed the move.
Alan Butler, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Said :
“For far too long Internet users have suffered personal data abuses at the whims of Facebook and other platforms. EPIC first called for an end to this program in 2011,”
Adam Schwartz, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Said :
Although Facebook’s action comes after moves from other tech companies, it could mark a “notable moment in the national turning-away from face recognition.”
Facebook adds that its automatic alt text tool, which creates image descriptions for visually impair people, will no longer include the names of people recognise in photos after the removal of face recognition, but will otherwise function normally.
Facebook did not rule out using facial recognition technology in other products, saying it still sees it as a “powerful tool” for identity verification.
The FB’s recognition software has long been the subject of scrutiny.
The US Federal Trade Commission includes it among the concerns when it fine Facebook $5 billion to settle privacy complaints in 2019.
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