Sep 4, 2019 - Technology

Facebook expands its use of facial recognition technology

Ina Fried

An illustration of a group of people. — Courtesy Facebook

Facebook on Tuesday announced a new policy for gaining user consent to apply facial recognition to photos on the service, while also expanding its use of the technology.

The big picture: The feature was initially only used to help suggest possible friends to tag in a photo, but Facebook says that, with users' permission, it will now also use face recognition to help prevent people from using your photos fraudulently.

Facebook said users will also be asked whether they want to turn on facial recognition or leave it turned off.

Our thought bubble: At first, Facebook used facial recognition to power a single feature — automatic photo tagging. By expanding its use beyond that single feature, Facebook could be greasing the wheels for even greater use down the road.

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Facebook expands its use of facial recognition technology

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