What the Tech? Facebook Sued on Claim It Matched Names with Faces without Permission
Have you ever had trouble placing a name with a face? Facebook has never had that problem. Thanks to our willingness to upload photos and tag ourselves and our friends, Facebook and other companies have everything they need to combine our names and faces to be identified in photos and videos using facial recognition.
Texas is the latest to file a class-action lawsuit against Meta (Facebook’s parent company) for allegedly collecting biometric data using the facial recognition of its users. The suit is seeking $25,000 per violation. 3 years ago, Facebook settled a similar class-action lawsuit in Illinois.
Most people don’t think twice about uploading a selfie to just about any online site or app. Those free apps collect biometric data and some sell that information to other companies. Years ago, Facebook began using facial recognition, it says, to help its 3 billion users find photos of themselves. When a photo was posted, anyone that was recognized by their image,
I received a notification from Facebook asking if the person identified would like to tag themselves and add the photo to their own timeline.
The technology could also be used to identify people in Facebook Live videos at events, though Facebook has never said it was used that way.
It isn’t just Facebook of course. Dozens of companies you know and some you don’t, have the ability to put names with faces. Walmart tested the technology in some stores to identify convicted shoplifters. It discontinued the program in 2015. So the technology has been out there for some time.
In 2016, Facebook was sued for allegedly collecting the information without the user’s knowledge. In 2018 it gave everyone on Facebook the option to turn off facial recognition. After the lawsuit, which Facebook settled for $650 million the social media company scrubbed its facial recognition of users.
If you click on the option in your Facebook settings you’ll now see a notice that it is no longer available. Facebook also said it would delete that massive database of photos.
Biometric data is valuable and free apps are collecting it from people who willingly, submit selfies to see which star they look like, which Disney character they favor, and to create funny videos and GIFS. Those photos, paired with email and home addresses, facebook profiles, and lots of other information are floating around out there for other companies to purchase.
Combine that with DNA submitted by people you don’t even know but are related to, can put your in-real-life in massive databases that can literally identify anyone, anywhere there’s a camera.
Facebook said once it ended the facial recognition feature, it would delete all of that information from its databases. But once the lawsuit was filed in Texas, it stopped the deletion while the case works its way through the courts.
