The technology will not be used until regulations are introduced
Facebook owner Meta has announced that it is shutting down the facial recognition system on the largest social network. The reason is the doubts and uncertainty of consumers.
The company argues that there are many concerns in society about facial recognition technology. There are no clear regulations, and the process of their introduction is still slow.
“Because of this uncertainty, we believe it is right to limit the use of facial recognition to a small number of benefits,” the company said. It begins the gradual suspension of virtually all services with this technology on the social network.
This includes ending the supply of users who are automatically recognized and added to photos, as well as limiting the technology that recognizes people in the frame and describes them to visually impaired users. Face recognition was a technology that every Facebook user had to activate personally. The company says about 600 million of its active daily users have done so.
Meta clarifies that it does not give up facial recognition completely. The company will continue to develop and use it in some cases. These will include identity verification, fraud protection and other similar cases, with the company saying it is still publicly describing how the technology works and will allow people to have control over the system.
Facebook will also delete the personal identification data through which it identifies users. All this will happen gradually in the coming weeks. The company says it will continue to be active on the subject and work with regulators and human rights organizations to develop rules for the technology and its future use.
