Facebook has started rolling out a facial recognition feature worldwide, with a tool called ‘Tag Suggestions’, sparking controversy for not informing users of the change.
Late last year, Facebook started rolling a facial recognition feature across the US. Now, the company has pushed the Tag Suggestions feature to countries outside of the US, but has switched it on by default without telling its users first.
When a user uploads new photos, Facebook uses software similar to that found in many photo editing tools to match new photos to other photos they’re tagged in.
Similar photos are grouped together and, whenever possible, Facebook suggests the names friends in the photos.
No prior notice
When the new feature was introduced in the US, Facebook pointed out that users could disable it in their Privacy Settings. When the technology started being pushed out internationally this week, the social networking giant didn’t feel the need to warn its users that it was switched on by default.
According to a new report from a security and antivirus company Sophos, Facebook doesn’t give users the option to avoid being tagged in a photo; instead, people who don’t want their name attached to an image must untag themselves after the fact.
“Unfortunately, once again, Facebook seems to be sharing personal information by default,” a Sophos spokesperson said in a statement. “Many people feel distinctly uncomfortable about a site like Facebook learning what they look like, and using that information without their permission. Most Facebook users still don’t know how to set their privacy options safely, finding the whole system confusing. It’s even harder though to keep control when Facebook changes the settings without your knowledge.”
Facebook has come under repeated criticism in the past few years for automatically opting users into new product releases without their knowledge or consent. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder and chief executive, has defended this decision in the past, noting that most users would not experience the full effects of Facebook without the new features that are continuously rolled out.
Privacy experts and some Facebook users disagree, saying the company should introduce new products by asking users if they would like to join, rather than automatically signing them up without their knowledge.
In response to a reporter’s inquiry, posted on a Facebook blog, the company said, “We should have been more clear with people during the roll-out process when this became available to them.”
The post continued: “We launched Tag Suggestions to help people add tags of their friends in photos; something that’s currently done more than 100 million times a day. Tag Suggestions are only made to people when they add new photos to the site, and only friends are suggested. If for any reason someone doesn’t want their name to be suggested, they can disable the feature in their Privacy Settings.”
Changing privacy settings
Users can change the privacy settings relating to the facial recognition feature by accessing their account privacy settings and clicking “customize settings” at the bottom of the page.
To opt out of this feature, you’ll need to follow these steps:
1. Go to your Privacy Settings on Facebook.
2. Click on Customise settings at the bottom.
3. Under “Things others share” you should see an option titled “Suggest photos of me to friends. When photos look like me, suggest my name.” Click on Edit Settings.
4. Change the option from Enabled to Disabled.
5. Click OK.
