The latest news coming out of 'social networking land' is that Facebook has opted-in all users to a facial recognition feature that helps make tagging photos easier. Whenever you upload photos, the facial recognition technology can identify the people in your images and suggest who they might be--all you have to do is confirm whether or not their guess is right. The European Union is investigating the situation to see if privacy rules are being broken, and privacy advocates are speaking out as well.
This technology is already present in desktop applications like Google's Picas and Apple's iPhoto, but the difference here is that the database detecting and tagging these photos resides on the Facebook's server, not your personal computer.
You can change your privacy settings to stop Facebook from automatically helping others tag you in photos, but the settings are hard to find. Also, there is no confirmation that Facebook has wiped the data about you from its servers as promised. The article provides a step-by-step guide to changing your settings, including visuals to help you as you go.
Do you see this as an issue? Should Facebook be allowed to have this kind of database? Is it fair that we were automatically opted-in to this feature?
Does anyone have an argument in support of this feature? The government already has a database of our pictures and information, so should we really be worried about whether or not Facebook has it too?
Article link:
Additional articles to from PCWorld:
I guess I want to know if it tags me in people’s pictures that I am not friends with. I know that I have recently uploaded pictures and it automatically captures the people in the pictures and asks you want to tag them, but it didn't tag them automatically, it only selected faces in the pictures and didn't add a name to them and I am pretty sure it only offered my friends to choose from. So do I have a problem being tagged in my friend’s photos automatically, no, but I would have an issue if I am being tagged in some random person’s photos.
ReplyDeleteI think the big issue is that a lot of the new features and changes are opt-out as opposed to opt-in. One of the articles also mentions that Facebook did this with address sharing only to reverse their decision.
ReplyDeleteAnother important factor is that Facebook should be better at communicating such changes to its users. After the address incident, Facebook should be have been prepared for backlash from users.
Because we provide Facebook with our private information, the company has a responsibility to be sensitive to our privacy concerns.
I personally don’t mind Facebook facial recognition feature. It helps people connect. When used between friends it might be fun. And yet, when I think of it, I prefer to be asked before being tagged in a photo. Called it vanity but I won’t just share any pictures of me.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with the article’s statement that users should have the option to opt-in to the face recognition feature instead of op-out. I also agree with the author arguing with Sarah Jacbosson Purewal that “the biggest creep factor would be if this database fell into the hands of governments”. After all, government is there to protect us. And with our first driver’s license we already provided government office with our photo portrait.
This post and the articles, cited here, make me stress once more the importance of cyber education. Being informed gives us the option to choose what we share with the world and to protect our privacy.
I think that's kind of scary. I personally don't like being tagged in photos without permission. This article just gives me another reason why I should get off Facebook.
ReplyDeleteI also have no problem with this feature and actually will enjoy the change. Has anyone tried up upload a large amount of photos from a family event and spent hours tagging everyone? I have. After uploading pictures from my wedding, it was a pain and hassle to tag everyone. In fact, more and more I see my friends posting pictures with the tagline "tag yourself." This new feature will save time and effort.
ReplyDeleteI also wonder if Facebook is required to inform users when changes are made. Certainly websites are not forced to inform users every time information or formats change. When you sign-up for Facebook, you are agreeing to THEIR terms and conditions and one of these terms is a change social environment. Facebook is not going to remain stagnant in an every changing society. They will continue to find ways to be one step ahead of the competition. No one is forcing you to continue.
While I do think this should be an opt-in feature instead of opt-out (like most Facebook changes actually), however, I do actually like this feature. I agree with Stacy that when it comes to tagging people individually in a massive number of photos that you upload it takes forever. I've used this feature and it works well. It does not tag anyone that is not one of your Facebook friends already, so it does not violate your privacy that way. I think my main problem with Facebook options is that instead of just making an announcement about the option and how to opt into it, they automatically do it for you and you have to wade through many things to figure out how to get out of it.
ReplyDeletePersonally, this does creep me out a little. Like Mary commented, I like having as much control as possible over where I get tagged in photos. After all, people check up on you with Facebook. I have heard several people comment that when hiring employees, they check Facebook and other social media to learn more information about the person. If I were in this position, I wouldn't want some wacky photo of me coming up because a friend tagged me.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the thing that really bothers me is that Facebook doesn't inform people of these types of changes. Unless someone is keeping an eye out for news stories, they might never know. I didn't know until I read your blog. When it can affect privacy, I think that they should be prompt and direct in informing people of changes.
Yes, to me this is very creepy and I immediately opted out after hearing about it. I don't understand why Facebook wouldn't have this be something to opt-in for, unless they are just trying to get us to be immune to bad press.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that it only allows you to tag friends - I didn't realize that. Cyber stalking is bad enough as it is. Creepiness. Since I don't upload my photos to Facebook (I would like to keep them as my own intellectual property, not theirs) I have never had to worry about tagging tons of people. I imagine that if they want to be recognized as being in the photos they could tag themselves.
As long as I am still notified of someone tagging me, then this feature seems harmless. It may have been smart for Facebook to send out some kind of notification of the new feature and giving people a chance to voice their opinions on it.
ReplyDeleteWow! I didn't know FB was implementing this! I love FB but I wish they didn't automatically opt everyone in to all their new things! I will have to go opt-out of this. As most people have said, I don't really mind as long as I still know I'm being tagged but I'm interested to know how this will work. For example, if you have a child and you often "tag" them by using a first name only, which doesn't connect them to an actual FB page, will it still recognize them after tagging them so many times? Hmm...
ReplyDeleteAlso, I have a Mac and I use iPhoto and I've found that this technology really isn't that fantastic unless you have a bunch of really clear, front-facing pictures without the person having any sunglasses or anything like that on that might obstruct their face. So, I don't see it being that harmful.
Mostly, all I can think about is that all that information seems like a lot of useless info to have to store and it would take up a lot of space....