On Tuesday Facebook announced it had plans to stop using facial-recognition software that could automatically recognize people in photos and videos posted on the social network, marking a massive shift both for the tech industry and for a company known for collecting vast amounts of data about its billions of users.
Facebook, which changed its company name to Meta in late October, also said it plans to delete the data it had gathered through its use of this software, which is associated with over a billion people’s faces.
Despite the timing of Facebook’s decision, Caitlin Seeley George, campaign director for digital rights group Fight for the Future, cautioned against dismissing it as a public-relations stunt. She says the move demonstrates that Facebook is questioning the technology’s value and it will impact millions of people’s lives.
The decision, she noted, comes shortly after other companies’ announcements trumpeting the technology — such as Delta Air Lines expanding the use of facial-recognition software for checking in customers for flights.
“The fact that a company as big and influential as Facebook is coming and acknowledging the harms of facial recognition is definitely a sign of the times,” she said.
