SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc. announced Tuesday that it will begin using face recognition technology to inform people in the social network when others upload their photos, if they accept that the company maintains a face model in the file.
The company stated in a statement that it was making the feature optional to allow people to protect their privacy, but thought some people would like to receive information about images they would not otherwise have known.
The feature would not be immediately available in Canada and the European Union, Facebook said. Privacy laws are generally more stringent in these jurisdictions, although the company said it hoped to implement them in the future.
Technology companies are implementing a variety of features using facial recognition technology, despite fears about how facial data could be used. In September, Apple Inc revealed that users of their new iPhone X could unlock the device using their face.
Facial recognition technology has been part of Facebook since at least 2010, when the social network began to offer suggestions on who to tag in a photo. That function is also optional.
FILE PHOTO: A picture illustration shows a Facebook logo reflected in a person's eye, in Zenica, March 13, 2015. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
For those who have opted for Facebook, create what a model calls a person's face by analyzing the pixels of the photos in which the person is already labeled. Then compare the recently loaded images with the model.
Facebook removes the model from anyone and therefore excludes it, said Rob Sherman, deputy director of privacy for Facebook, in a statement.
According to the new feature, people who have joined will receive a Facebook notification if their photo has been uploaded, even if only the photo is the one they have access to.
The company plans to add an "on / off" switch to allow users to control all Facebook functions related to facial recognition, Sherman said. "We thought it was important to have a very direct 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 their photo as their profile photo, which according to the company can help reduce personifications, as well as software that describes photos with words people with loss of sight, so they can say who is in an image.