Facebook Inc. (FB.O) stated on Tuesday that its facial recognition
system, which automatically recognizes individuals in images and videos, will
be shut down, citing rising social concerns about the use of such technology.

“Regulators are still in the process of providing a
clear set of rules governing its use,” Jerome Pesenti, vice president of
artificial intelligence at Facebook, said in a blog post. “Amid this
ongoing uncertainty, we believe that limiting the use of facial recognition to
a narrow set of use cases is appropriate.”

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Face recognition has been removed by the world’s largest
social networking site, as the tech sector in recent years has faced a reckoning over the
ethics of using the technology.

Critics say facial recognition technology, which is
widely used for security purposes by merchants, hospitals, and other
enterprises, could jeopardise privacy, target marginalised
groups, and normalise intrusive monitoring.

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More than one-third of Facebook’s daily active users have
opted into the face recognition setting on the social networking site,
according to the business, which rebranded itself Meta Platforms Inc last week.
The update will now delete the “facial recognition templates” of
more than 1 billion individuals.

According to a Facebook spokesperson, the removal will
take place internationally and will be completed by December.

After the elimination of facial recognition, Facebook’s
automated alt-text feature, which provides picture descriptions for visually
challenged individuals, will no longer include the names of persons detected in
photographs, but will otherwise work properly.

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According to Facebook‘s blog post, the technology will
now be confined to certain functions such as assisting customers in gaining
access to their protected accounts or unlocking a personal device.

The announcement comes at a time when Facebook has been under fire from regulators and politicians for user safety and a variety of other issues on its services.