In the aftermath of the Facebook whistleblower’s document dump that exposed much of the inner workings of the social networking giant, Facebook announced plans that it will end use of its facial recognition software system and delete more than a billion users’ facial data. The software had been in place at Facebook since 2010, when the platform rolled it out and enabled users to opt-in to a facial-recognition setting that would automatically tag them in pictures and photos. To announce the move, the company’s Vice President of artificial intelligence, Jerome Presenti, wrote a blog post stating in part "[w]e need to weigh the positive use cases for facial recognition against growing societal concerns, especially as regulators have yet to provide clear rules[.]" 

In addition to the “societal concerns” Presenti invoked, Facebook’s move likely comes in response to issues raised by federal regulators and a biometric privacy lawsuit that Facebook agreed recently to pay $650 million to resolve. It further highlights how companies are responding to risks associated with collecting data in less-defined areas of tech and the uncertainty the privacy regulatory regime can hold without clear guidelines and rules. While there is currently no national legislation regulating facial recognition software’s use (or individuals’ privacy rights, for that matter), a growing number of cities and states have begun passing their own rules to limit or ban its use.

Sources: CNN and The Post