Facebook Shuts Down Facial Recognition System
2021-11-04
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1Facebook says it is ending its facial recognition system that automatically identifies users in pictures and videos.
2The company's Vice President of Artificial Intelligence, Jerome Pesenti, announced the change this week in a statement on the company's corporate website.
3Pesenti said the decision to end the system was "part of a company-wide move to limit the use of facial recognition in our products."
4The facial recognition system on Facebook is to be ended "in the coming weeks."
5The move comes as the social media service faces accusations that it failed to take action to protect users even though its own research suggested its products can be harmful.
6In the past, Facebook has also faced widespread criticism for not doing enough to protect the privacy of its users.
7The decision also followed a company announcement that it was changing its name from Facebook to Meta.
8Industry experts have said the name change appeared to be an attempt to move attention away from unfavorable media attention in recent months.
9"This change will represent one of the largest shifts in facial recognition usage in the technology's history," Pesenti said in his statement.
10As a result, "more than a billion people's individual facial recognition templates" will be removed, the statement added.
11Meta has said that more than a third of Facebook's daily active users have given their permission to have their faces recognized by the social network's system.
12That represents about 640 million people worldwide.
13Facebook first started offering facial recognition about 10 years ago.
14But over time, it has made it easier for users to opt out of the system as it faced more pressure from courts and government officials.
15Pesenti said the company still sees facial recognition technology as a powerful tool.
16But he noted that the situations where it can be helpful "need to be weighed against growing concerns about this technology as a whole."
17He said examples of acceptable uses of the technology would be to confirm a person's identity or prevent fraudulent activities.
18He added that Meta will continue working on facial recognition for such uses and would seek out the opinions of outside experts before deciding on how it will use the technology in the future.
19Kristen Martin is a professor of technology ethics at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
20She told The Associated Press that Facebook's decision to shut down the system "is a good example of trying to make product decisions that are good for the user and the company."
21She added that the move also demonstrates the power of public and regulatory pressure, since the facial recognition system has long been the subject of strong criticism.
22Facial recognition technology has been used by other industries as well, such as retail businesses, security companies and by some law enforcement agencies.
23But critics say such systems have a high failure rate, especially when attempting to identify members of some minority groups.
24Facial recognition technology has also led to major concerns over privacy and ethics issues.
25Several American cities have passed bans on the use of facial recognition systems.
26And major technology companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, IBM and Google, have stopped selling facial recognition software to law enforcement agencies.
27Adam Schwartz is a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
28He told the Reuters news agency that Facebook's action comes after moves by other tech companies.
29Still, he said, it could mark a "notable moment in the national turning-away from face recognition."
30I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Facebook says it is ending its facial recognition system that automatically identifies users in pictures and videos. 2The company's Vice President of Artificial Intelligence, Jerome Pesenti, announced the change this week in a statement on the company's corporate website. 3Pesenti said the decision to end the system was "part of a company-wide move to limit the use of facial recognition in our products." The facial recognition system on Facebook is to be ended "in the coming weeks." 4The move comes as the social media service faces accusations that it failed to take action to protect users even though its own research suggested its products can be harmful. In the past, Facebook has also faced widespread criticism for not doing enough to protect the privacy of its users. 5The decision also followed a company announcement that it was changing its name from Facebook to Meta. Industry experts have said the name change appeared to be an attempt to move attention away from unfavorable media attention in recent months. 6"This change will represent one of the largest shifts in facial recognition usage in the technology's history," Pesenti said in his statement. As a result, "more than a billion people's individual facial recognition templates" will be removed, the statement added. 7Meta has said that more than a third of Facebook's daily active users have given their permission to have their faces recognized by the social network's system. That represents about 640 million people worldwide. 8Facebook first started offering facial recognition about 10 years ago. But over time, it has made it easier for users to opt out of the system as it faced more pressure from courts and government officials. 9Pesenti said the company still sees facial recognition technology as a powerful tool. But he noted that the situations where it can be helpful "need to be weighed against growing concerns about this technology as a whole." 10He said examples of acceptable uses of the technology would be to confirm a person's identity or prevent fraudulent activities. He added that Meta will continue working on facial recognition for such uses and would seek out the opinions of outside experts before deciding on how it will use the technology in the future. 11Kristen Martin is a professor of technology ethics at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. She told The Associated Press that Facebook's decision to shut down the system "is a good example of trying to make product decisions that are good for the user and the company." She added that the move also demonstrates the power of public and regulatory pressure, since the facial recognition system has long been the subject of strong criticism. 12Facial recognition technology has been used by other industries as well, such as retail businesses, security companies and by some law enforcement agencies. But critics say such systems have a high failure rate, especially when attempting to identify members of some minority groups. Facial recognition technology has also led to major concerns over privacy and ethics issues. 13Several American cities have passed bans on the use of facial recognition systems. And major technology companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, IBM and Google, have stopped selling facial recognition software to law enforcement agencies. 14Adam Schwartz is a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He told the Reuters news agency that Facebook's action comes after moves by other tech companies. Still, he said, it could mark a "notable moment in the national turning-away from face recognition." 15I'm Bryan Lynn. 16Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English based on reports from The Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Facebook. Ashley Thompson the editor. 17We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. 18____________________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20automatic - adj. something controlled using machines and not people 21shift - n. a change in something 22template - n. a system that helps organize information on a computer screen 23opt out - phr v. to choose not to be part of an activity or to stop being involved in it 24fraudulent - adj. dishonest and illegal 25ethics - n. ideas and beliefs about what kind of behavior is morally right or wrong 26regulatory - adj. controlling an activity or process, especially by using rules 27retail - n. the activity of selling products to the public in shops and on the internet