Facebook will shut down facial recognition system

[silversurfer]

Content source

https://www.reuters.com/technology/facebook-will-shut-down-facial-recognition-system-2021-11-02/

Facebook Inc (FB.O) announced on Tuesday it is shutting down its facial recognition system, which automatically identifies users in photos and videos, citing growing societal concerns about the use of such technology.

"Regulators are still in the process of providing a clear set of rules governing its use," Jerome Pesenti, vice president of artificial intelligence at Facebook, wrote in a blog post. "Amid this ongoing uncertainty, we believe that limiting the use of facial recognition to a narrow set of use cases is appropriate."

The removal of face recognition by the world's largest social media platform comes as the tech industry has faced a reckoning over the past few years over the ethics of using the technology.

Critics say facial recognition technology - which is popular among retailers, hospitals and other businesses for security purposes - could compromise privacy, target marginalized groups and normalize intrusive surveillance.

Facebook will shut down facial recognition system

Facebook Inc announced on Tuesday it is shutting down its facial recognition system, which automatically identifies users in photos and videos, citing growing societal concerns about the use of such technology.

www.reuters.com

 

[LASER_oneXM]

Facebook to delete 1 billion faceprints in Face Recognition shutdown

Facebook announced today that they will no longer use the Face Recognition system on their platform and will be deleting over 1 billion people's facial recognition profiles.

www.bleepingcomputer.com

Facebook announced today that they will no longer use the Face Recognition system on their platform and will be deleting over 1 billion people's facial recognition profiles.

Facebook's Face Recognition system analyzes photos taken of tagged users and associated users' profile photos to build a unique identifier or template. This template is then used to identify users in uploaded photos or automatically tag people in Memories.

Now, a week after their rebranding as Meta, Facebook has announced that they are doing away with the Face Recognition feature and deleting all profile templates created by the system.

"But the many specific instances where facial recognition can be helpful need to be weighed against growing concerns about the use of this technology as a whole," said Jerome Pesenti, VP of Artificial Intelligence, in an announcement published today.

"There are many concerns about the place of facial recognition technology in society, and regulators are still in the process of providing a clear set of rules governing its use."

 

[The_King]

I get the feeling there is a much deeper story here. Seems like a very high price to pay to show concern about their users privacy when
they really don't give a 's hiney!