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Highlights
- Facebook’s first strategic action on rebranding to Meta is to remove its 10-year-old facial recognition system.
- Facebook's controversial face recognition feature has been turned off, so the social media platform will no longer automatically detect your videos and pictures.
- Lawmakers and authorities have been scrutinising Facebook for user safety as well as a broad spectrum of abuses on its platforms.
Meta took a big step! Facebook's controversial face recognition feature has been turned off. Hence, the social media platform will no longer be able to automatically detect your videos and pictures.
The facial recognition system detected people who appeared in videos and photos provided by users. Facebook users were prompted to tag themselves in photos shared by their Facebook acquaintances and friends.
The move came on the back of regulatory ambiguity and societal concerns around facial recognition technology. According to media reports, cyber security experts always warned about the technology being misused by social watchdogs.
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What’s Facebook’s stance on facial recognition system?
According to Facebook, almost 1/3 of Facebook's daily active users have enabled face recognition. The company further claimed that the modification would wipe out over one billion people's facial recognition templates.
Facebook further said that its automatic alt text tool that generated automatic image descriptions for visually impaired individuals had been disabled, and it no longer included people’s names recognised in photos once face recognition had been removed. The tool, however, will otherwise continue to function normally.
However, Facebook still intends to use facial recognition technology in its other products, citing it as a "powerful tool" that verifies identity.
Related Article: What’s in store for Facebook in 2022 after a year of hurdles?
Bottom line
Every new technology can cause both concerns and benefits, and hence, a proper balance must be struck. Facebook, by removing the facial recognition feature, proved how committed the company is towards establishing the company as per Meta’s vision, without ignoring social concerns. Let us see what other strategic moves will take place to enhance the Meta branding further.
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