DreamTeamDownloads1, FTP Help, Movies, Bollywood, Applications, etc. & Mature Sex Forum, Rapidshare, Filefactory, Freakshare, Rapidgator, Turbobit, & More MULTI Filehosts - Facebook Scraps Face-Recognition & DELETES Faceprints of 1Bil People

Facebook Scraps Face-Recognition System and Deletes Faceprints of 1 Billion People

The system, which automatically identifies users in photos and videos, is used by over a third of daily active users. The removal will roll out globally and is expected to be complete by December

Daily Mirror 3 NOV 2021.

https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incomin...-COMPUTERS.jpg

https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incomin...-COMPUTERS.jpg

The face-recognition feature is used by a third of daily active users, but it will be scrapped by December

https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incomin...-at-173536.jpg

Facebook has said it will scrap its face-recognition system and delete the faceprints of one billion people.

The system, which automatically identifies users in photos and videos, is currently used by over a third of daily active users, the company said.

Citing "growing societal concerns" about the use of such technology, Facebook said the change will delete the "facial recognition templates" of more than one billion people.

The removal will roll out globally and is expected to be complete by December, a Facebook spokesperson said.

The company added that its automatic alt-text tool, which creates image descriptions for visually impaired people, will no longer include the names of people recognised in photos after the removal of face recognition, but will otherwise function normally.

Jerome Pesenti, vice president of artificial intelligence at Facebook, explained in a blog post: "Regulators are still in the process of providing a clear set of rules governing its use.

"Amid this ongoing uncertainty, we believe that limiting the use of facial recognition to a narrow set of use cases is appropriate."

He added: "This change will represent one of the largest shifts in facial recognition usage in the technology’s history."

The company said it will continue to consider facial recognition as a powerful tool in the future - for example, when people need to verify their identity or to prevent fraud or impersonation.

But the blog post explained the system will be scrapped for now due to growing concerns.

Mr Pesenti wrote: "We will continue working on these technologies and engaging outside experts.

"But the many specific instances where facial recognition can be helpful need to be weighed against growing concerns about the use of this technology as a whole."

Practically, users will no longer be automatically recognised when their faces appear in memories, photos or videos.

They will no longer be able to turn on face recognition for suggested tagging or see a suggested tag with their name in photos and videos they may appear in.

Facebook said people can still tag themselves manually - but they won't be prompted to do so by the social media site.

This change will also impact Automatic Alt Text (AAT), meaning the technology will still be able to recognise how many people are in a photo, but will no longer attempt to identify who each person is using facial recognition.

Facebook said: "If you have opted into our Face Recognition setting, we will delete the template used to identify you. If you have the face recognition setting turned off, there is no template to delete and there will be no change."

It comes after the social media giant revealed a new company name and brand, Meta, last week.

The rebrand reflects the firm’s push to move its broadening business portfolio beyond social networking and push ahead with plans to develop the so-called metaverse, an online world where people can meet, play and work virtually, often using VR headsets.

While the wider company name is being rebranded to Meta, the core Facebook service will remain unchanged.

This is similar to how Google created a new parent company name, Alphabet, in 2015 to represent its shift beyond simply being a search engine.

Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the current brand is "so tightly linked to one product that it can't possibly represent everything that we're doing today, let alone in the future".

"Over time, I hope that we are seen as a metaverse company and I want to anchor our work and our identity on what we're building towards," he said in a virtual conference.

"We just announced that we were making a fundamental change to our company. We're now looking at and reporting on our business as two different segments, one for our family of apps, and one for our work on future platforms.

"And as part of this, it is time for us to adopt a new company brand to encompass everything that we do to reflect who we are and what we hope to build.

"I am proud to announce that starting today, our company is now Meta."