Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion

Had anyone heard about Facebook's decision about "facial recognition"?

The article is at: http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.m...
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Excerpt:
"(CNN) June 8, 2011 - Facebook's computer systems will soon be able to recognize familiar faces.

"Facebook is making changes to the process for tagging friends in photos uploaded to the social network, the company announced on Tuesday.

"Starting in a few weeks, the system will scan all images posted to Facebook and suggest the names of people who appear in the frame. Last year, Facebook began rolling the facial-recognition feature out to a test group.

"Facebook's more than 500 million users have been automatically included in the database, but the company is allowing each person to choose whether to be identified by toggling a pane in the account's privacy settings.

"The tool would still scan that person's face and figure out who it is, but it won't display that information. People can still manually tag friends.

"The news sparked a small brushfire of media hostility. Bloggers characterized the tool -- and Facebook's decision not to ask before including everyone -- as unsettling while others urged readers to opt out."
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I looked for a privacy setting at Facebook which would allow me to opt out of the feature, but I couldn't find one. I tried searching Facebook's help section, but there was no information there. Has anyone found where that setting is on Facebook?

Sophos, an AV & security company posted about it on their Facebook page here:
http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2011/...

Here's the short answer from their article on how you stop it.
* Go to your Facebook account's privacy settings.
* Click on "Customise settings".
* Under "Things others share" you should see an option titled "Suggest photos of me to friends. When photos look like me, suggest my name".
* Unfortunately at this point you can't tell whether Facebook has enabled the setting or not, you have to dig deeper..
* Click on "Edit settings".
* If Facebook has enabled auto-suggestion of photo tags you will find the option says "Enabled".
* Change it to "Disabled" if you don't want Facebook to work that way.
* Press "OK".

Thanks for clarifying that, Jim. And thanks for the link. It was excellent.

I went to the Facebook Help Center at:
https://www.facebook.com/help/?page=1194

Among other things I found this:
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"If someone you’re not friends with uploads a photo of you, your name won’t be suggested to that person. Also, if you upload photos of people you’re not friends with, we won’t suggest their names to you."
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I'm glad that Facebook notifies people when they've been tagged. Then if a person doesn't want to be tagged, he/she can remove the tag.

When I tag a relative in a photo, I'm glad that they're notified. It's a way of focusing their attention on the photo, which I'd like them to see.

I'm wondering if facial recognition will help the law catch criminals. If the F.B.I. is able to look at photos on FaceBook, they would be able to find out a lot about where a person may be and whom he hangs out with. Seems like a slippery slope to a police state. I suppose that's why it's a touchy subject.

While the argument that such technology can & will help law enforcement is a valid one, our rapidly shrinking privacy is a bigger concern for me. I think Facebook should have made the facial recognition an opt-in rather than opt-out thing. Of course, not as many would use it then, but that's a good thing, IMO. Unfortunately, current business has found this way of tricking us into using services. It's time consuming to reflect on every change & figure out how to opt-out, so people won't bother - just as they wouldn't bother to opt-in.

While tags can be removed, the time between the tagging & the person removing it can be critical. Other software & people can see the tag in that time & untagging won't remove it from them. IMO, the tag shouldn't become public until after the person being tagged approves it.

Facial recognition isn't 100% accurate. This is a great way to fine tune it, but at what cost? Electronic copies can be forever, so we really need to err on the side of caution.

Jim wrote: "... IMO, the tag shouldn't become public until after the person being tagged approves it. ..."

Jim, that's a great suggestion!

I didn't come up with the idea, Joy. A lot of privacy & security groups have been screaming at sites like FB to do it. Unfortunately, we can't make them listen.

Facebook is really getting out of control with the invasion of privacy. And people are too stupid to realize it because they view it as 'entertainment'.

Not only is it entertainment, Jackie, but it borders on being obsessive. The kids seem to use it like a telephone... talking about their latest activities... where they'll be next or where they were recently... graduations... trips... you name it. Photos too, with conversation threads about the photos going on at the same time.

Jim, I doubt the FB will change their ways until it the law steps in. And what can the law do? Quite a situation!

It's dangerous for kids to report where they'll be at any given time. They're too free with their personal business. And they have no idea that employers often check FB profiles of their prospective employees.
I wouldn't doubt it if the invasive policies of FB are sanctioned covertly by our govt.

Jackie, I know what you mean. Some of the kids are so innocent about personal business. And the language they use is full of f-words and other vulgar expressions. It seems to be the style in our youthful culture.

I don't think their innocent, more like they're ignorant. I see stuff on my son's and his friend's pages that I'd rather not know.

Jackie, again I know what you mean. In fact I found a funny birthday card which I sent to my son saying in effect: "Hope you'll have a wonderful birthday. But I'd rather not know the details." I wish I had copied down the exact wording. It was perfect... and so funny! LOL

That's a great card, lol

Jackie wrote: "That's a great card, lol"

Yes, Jackie, and only 50 cents at the dollar store! In fact, I bought two of the same card and sent them to TWO of our sons, one in May, the other in June.