Facebook silently switches on facial recognition, angers everyone

One of the many reasons people leave Facebook is that it constantly changes its privacy conditions, forcing users to continuously monitor their accounts. Recently, Facebook has turned on their facial recognition for photographs without notifying anyone, leaving many users scrambling to find out how to turn it off. Originally turned on for Americans last December, facial recognition was recently turned on worldwide, angering European users who do not necessarily want such a feature turned on by default.

“Unfortunately, once again, Facebook seems to be sharing personal information by default. Many people feel distinctly uncomfortable about a site like Facebook learning what they look like, and using that information without their permission,” said Cluley.

“Most Facebook users still don’t know how to set their privacy options safely, finding the whole system confusing. It’s even harder though to keep control when Facebook changes the settings without your knowledge.”

He said Facebook shouldn’t require its users to constantly check their privacy settings to see what the company has changed since their last visit to the site.

“The onus should not be on Facebook users having to ‘opt-out’ of the facial recognition feature, but instead on users having to ‘opt-in’,” he said.

“Yet again, it feels like Facebook is eroding the online privacy of its users by stealth.”

While some users say that you just need to turn off the feature, it should not be turned on by default. You cannot prevent friends or family from uploading pictures of you either. You can only tell Facebook to not show your name when someone else looks at the photo. You are still tagged in the Facebook database. You’re just not visible to others.

If for any reason you don’t want your name to be suggested, you will be able to disable suggested tags in your Privacy Settings. Just click “Customize Settings” and “Suggest photos of me to friends.” Your name will no longer be suggested in photo tags, though friends can still tag you manually. You can learn more about this feature in our Help Center.

Even if you have turned this feature off, the photographs are still there and your friends can still manually tag you. If necessary, law enforcement can also be granted access to them. It won’t matter that you’re in a group photo with someone who committed a crime or in a protest photograph. You remain tagged.

If you use Facebook, you should be shocked that they are creating a database algorithm based on your facial features without your consent. If you live in any country where protests are deemed illegal, such as Syria, a photograph of you, tagged in Facebook, can match you to a demonstration and can get you jailed or killed. This also pertains to people you’ve made angry, stalkers, and sexual predators who now simply need to snap your photo and can easily find you, your schedule, and when you’re most vulnerable.

Given the fact that your friends can automatically sign you up to Groups, your friends’ friends can see your wall posts until you tick a box that says otherwise, and the ever-changing privacy issues, why would anyone concerned about their privacy want to stay with Facebook? They seem set on taking your privacy, personal information, and relationships and using it to their advantage. Why would you want to remain a part of that kind of system?

Though Facebook has responded to what tagging is all about, users still have no control over photos of themselves being upload.

If you need help disabling this feature, the EFF has created a video to help you.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJOffOX98nY[/youtube]