Sep 4, 2019

Facebook expands its use of facial recognition technology

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.

Go deeper: TSA launches new facial recognition test in Vegas airport

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Rebecca Falconer

Updated 18 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Updates: George Floyd protests nationwide

Police officers wearing riot gear push back demonstrators outside of the White House on Monday. Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AFP via Getty Images

Protests over the death of George Floyd and other police-related killings of black people continued for a seventh day across the U.S., with President Trump threatening on Monday to deploy the military if the unrest continues.

The latest: Virginia's Arlington County Police Department said in a statement it withdrew officers from D.C. Monday night after being "put in a compromising position" after they were seen assisting military police and park rangers who used tear gas on peaceful protesters so Trump could walk to St John’s Episcopal Church, near the White House.

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1 hour ago - Technology

Civil rights leaders blast Facebook after meeting with Zuckerberg

Screenshot of an image some Facebook employees used as part of their virtual walkout on Monday.

A trio of civil rights leaders issued a blistering statement Monday following a meeting with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other top executives to discuss the social network's decision to leave up comments from President Trump they say amount to calls for violence and voter suppression.

Why it matters: While Twitter has flagged two of the president's Tweets, one for being potentially misleading about mail-in ballot procedures and another for glorifying violence, Facebook has left those and other posts up, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying he doesn't want to be the "arbiter of truth."

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Ina Fried

2 hours ago - Technology

Cisco, Sony postpone events amid continued protests

Screenshot: Axios (via YouTube)

Cisco said Monday night that it is postponing the online version of Cisco Live, its major customer event, amid the ongoing protests that have followed the killing of George Floyd.

Why it matters: Cisco joins Sony, Electronic Arts and Google in delaying tech events planned for this week.

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