Facebook has today turned on its new facial recognition tagging feature “Tag Suggestions”, which is now enabled by default worldwide. Facebook has been testing its new “Tag Suggestions” feature in the US since last December, and today has rolled out the new feature to the social network’s 600 million users worldwide without notice.
The new feature now means that whenever Facebook offers you the chance to tag groups of your friends within an album, it will now use its facial recognition technology to group similar faces together and automatically suggest friends you should tag them with. This technology aims to streamline the tagging process, making it quicker and easier for users to identify and tag their friends in photos.
Privacy Concerns and User Reactions
Graham Cluley, of the British internet security firm Sophos, expressed a few concerns about the new Facebook facial recognition tagging feature:
“Yet again, it feels like Facebook is eroding the online privacy of its users by stealth,”
Cluley’s concerns are shared by many privacy advocates who argue that the automatic nature of the feature could lead to unintended privacy breaches. For instance, users might be tagged in photos they would prefer to remain anonymous in, or the technology could be used to track individuals without their explicit consent. This has sparked a debate about the balance between convenience and privacy, with some users feeling that Facebook should have provided more transparency and control over the feature.
How to Disable Tag Suggestions
If you would rather not have Facebook’s new feature assist you in the tagging process, the feature can be disabled by doing the following:
– Go to your privacy settings.
– Click “Customise settings.”
– Scroll down to “Things others share.”
– Find “Suggest photos of me to friends.”
– Edit accordingly.
Disabling this feature ensures that Facebook will not automatically suggest tags for your photos, giving you more control over your online presence. However, it is important to note that even with this feature disabled, friends can still manually tag you in photos. Therefore, users should regularly review their tagged photos and adjust their privacy settings to manage who can see their tagged photos.
In addition to disabling the feature, users can also take other steps to protect their privacy on Facebook. For example, they can adjust their profile visibility settings, limit the audience for their posts, and regularly review their activity log to ensure that their online activities align with their privacy preferences.
What are your thoughts? Will you be disabling the new service or running with it? The introduction of facial recognition technology on social media platforms like Facebook highlights the ongoing tension between technological innovation and privacy concerns. As these technologies continue to evolve, it is crucial for users to stay informed and proactive about their privacy settings to maintain control over their personal information.
Source Sophos,
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