Facebooks Face Recognition Software: an unwelcome future girlfriend scenario

You may have heard that Facebook has now introduced a facebook recognition algorithm, having first tested this in the US, has now rolled it out across other European countries including the UK.  There was little fuss broadcasted prior to its launch and has really snook up on us all below the internet radar.  No surprise then that this has been construed as another facebook feature that has been thrust upon us with a subtle change in the privacy terms…

So how does facebook recognition work? The software uses facial recognition to identify people in  photos, then automatically tags the people it finds a match for using previous photos.

So the next  begging question I hear you cry is, can it automatically tag photos out of your friends network?  Well not at the moment, it only suggests identities from among their friends – some avid facebook users have found this feature useful.  But imagine this possible unwelcome scenario…

You and your fiance (girlfriend 6) are both on facebook and lets say hypothetically that you may have a couple of ex’s (girlfriends 2-5) still floating around in the background in your friends network.   Your ex girlfriend (girlfriend 5) has had a skinful on a night out and gets all nostalgic and decides to scan an old pic of you and her on holiday together. Hey presto the next thing you know, facebook tags the photo of you and your ex, everyone takes a gander and all your mates assume you’re back with your ex. Meanwhile the girlfriend 6  is also exposed to  the photo in question, and goes ballistic accusing you of sleeping with your ex and all hell brakes loose.  Tantrums all round, next thing your ears are bleeding and she relegates herself to obscurity for a mega sulk down to the shoe shop with your credit card.

If you want to kick face book recognition into touch, then take the following steps to disable the feature in your facebook account.

1) Under the “Account” drop-down menu at the top RHS, click “Privacy Settings.”

2) In the “Sharing on Facebook” section, click on “Customise Settings.”

3) Scroll down to “Suggest Photos of Me to Friends” and click “Edit Settings.”

4) In the drop-down on the right, click “Disable.”

Once completed you may feel the need to verify your other privacy settings are tightly secure.  If you want to make facebook account as  private as possible, go item by item through the “Things I Share” and “Things Others Share” sections and choose “friends only.”