It looks like Facebook is expanding its facial recognition technology to “help people better manage their identity on Facebook”. Right now, Facebook uses facial recognition to spot individuals in pictures and videos, and ask if you would like to tag them. The new feature will go beyond that, and notify users their pictures have been uploaded onto Facebook even when not tagged.
According to the social network, this new feature would not only make it easy for users to find their own photos, but it would also make it possible for people to see if their pictures have been misused – like to create a fake profile for example.
With the new tools, users will always know when their photos appear on Facebook. They can then tag or leave themselves untagged, or reach out to the person should they have any concerns about it. This tool is also useful for those with visual impairments; those who uses screen readers will always know who appears in photos in their News Feed even if people aren’t tagged.
This is an optional feature and you are always in control on whether you want Facebook to recognize you in photos and videos.
“Soon, you will begin to see a simple on/off switch instead of settings for individual features that uses face recognition technology. We designed this as an on/off switch because people gave us feedback that they prefer a simpler control than having to decide for every single feature using facial recognition technology.”
This new feature will be launched in most places, except for Canada and the EU, where Facebook doesn’t offer facial recognition.
(Source: Facebook)
