Facebook is to start using its AI to alert users when someone uploads photos of them to the social media site.
Facebook said the feature, which users can switch off, will allow people to protect their privacy online – but users do have to agree to let the company keep a facial template on file.
Facebook said it is releasing the new feature because it believes some people would want to be notified of photos they may not otherwise know about.
This feature could be especially useful if someone in your friend network posts a compromising picture of you without explicitly tagging you in it.
‘Today we’re announcing new, optional tools to help people better manage their identity on Facebook using face recognition,’ the company wrote in a statement.
The feature is powered by the same technology that Facebook has used to suggest friends whom users may want to tag in photos or videos.
According to Facebook, the feature will ‘help you detect when others might be attempting to use your image as their profile picture’.
If a user’s tag suggestions setting is currently set to ‘none,’ then their default face recognition setting will be set to ‘off’ and will remain that way until they decide to change it.
The feature would not immediately be available in Canada and the European Union, Facebook said, because privacy laws are generally stricter in those jurisdictions.
But, the company said it was hopeful about implementing the feature there in the future.
For those who opt in to the new feature, Facebook creates what it calls a template of a person’s face by analyzing pixels from photos where the person is already tagged.
It then compares newly uploaded images to the template.
Facebook deletes the template of anyone who then opts out, Rob Sherman, Facebook’s deputy chief privacy officer, said in a statement.
Under the new feature, people who have opted in would get a notification from Facebook if a photo of them has been uploaded, although only if the photo is one they have access to.
The company plans to add an ‘on/off’ switch to allow users to control all Facebook features related to facial recognition, Sherman said.
‘We thought it was important to have a really straightforward way of controlling facial recognition technology,’ he said.
Facebook said it also plans to use facial recognition technology to notify users if someone else uploads a photo of them as their profile picture, which the company says may help reduce impersonations.
Tech companies are putting in place a variety of functions using facial recognition technology, despite fears about how the facial data could be used.
