Customer Experience

Facebook to discontinue face recognition

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November 3, 2021

Facebook will shut down its face recognition system, the company announced on its website. Users who have opted in to its face recognition setting will no longer be automatically recognized in photos and videos, as the company will delete the facial recognition template used to identify users.

The move will result in the deletion of more than a billion people's individual facial recognition templates.

The company still views the technology as a powerful tool, such as allowing people to verify their identity, to prevent fraud and impersonation, and will continue working on these technologies.

The move was supported by facial recognition opponents.

"Lawmakers should ask why they're allowing government contracts with Clearview instead of banning use of the technology," Caitlin Seeley George, campaign director at Fight for the Future, said in a prepared statement. "From misidentifying Black and Brown people (which has already led to wrongful arrests) to making it impossible to move through our lives without being constantly surveilled, we cannot trust governments, law enforcement or private companies with this kind of invasive surveillance."