Facebook says it will stop using facial recognition for photo-tagging. Meta, the social network’s new parent company, announced that the platform will delete the facial templates of more than a billion people and shut off its facial recognition software. This decision represents a major step for the movement against facial recognition, which experts and activists have warned is plagued with bias and privacy problems.
But Meta’s announcement comes with a couple of big caveats. In fact, Meta is already exploring ways to incorporate biometrics into its emerging metaverse business. Meta is also keeping DeepFace, the sophisticated algorithm that powers its photo-tagging facial recognition feature.
Several of Meta’s current projects show that the company has no plans to stop collecting data about peoples’ bodies. Meta is developing hyper-realistic avatars that people will operate as they travel through the metaverse, which requires tracking someone’s facial movements in real time so they can be recreated by their avatar. A new virtual reality headset that Meta plans to release next year will include sensors that track peoples’ eye and facial movements.
In addition to Illinois’s biometric privacy law, there are a growing number of proposals at the local and federal levels that could rein in how private companies use facial recognition. Still, it’s not clear when regulators will come to a consensus on how to regulate this technology, and Meta wouldn’t point to any specific legislation that it supports. In the meantime, the company is welcoming the celebration over its new announcement.
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