Facebook's New 'Face Recognition' Feature

DrPhil · #1 06-09-2011, 07:29 AM

Disclaimer: Many of you already know how I feel about facebooook. If you disagree with this new feature, make sure you update your profile...and hope that can stop 'el diablo.'

The Electronic Privacy Information Center said yesterday that it will file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission about Facebook Inc.’s use of facial-recognition technology.

“When you or a friend upload new photos, we use face recognition software . . . to match your new photos to other photos you’re tagged in,’’ Justin Mitchell, a Facebook engineer, said in a Facebook blog. “We group similar photos together and, whenever possible, suggest the name of the friend in the photos.’’

Source: http://www.boston.com/business/techn...gets_facebook/

Additional articles:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/te...9facebook.html

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/technolog...-privacy-upset

http://www.pcworld.com/article/22974...is_creepy.html

Alumiyum · #2 06-09-2011, 08:54 AM

Meh, doesn't really bother me. I just disabled the ability for my face to be suggested. It DOES make tagging a little easier.

DrPhil · #3 06-09-2011, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alumiyum

I just disabled the ability for my face to be suggested.

Why did you bother doing that?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alumiyum

It DOES make tagging a little easier.

The shortsighted need for ease is why the Internet (and non-Internet) is able to get people. Would it kill people to have to spend an extra minute doing something?

For the record, face recognition technology isn't new but having it used by facebook (and any other Internet source, particularly one that is merely a social network) is creepy. I do appreciate facebook being straightforward about using this technology--for whatever reason they are being straightforward.

Alumiyum · #4 06-09-2011, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Why did you bother doing that?

The shortsighted need for ease is why the Internet (and non-Internet) is able to get people. Would it kill people to have to spend an extra minute doing something?

For the record, face recognition technology isn't new but having it used by facebook (and any other Internet source, particularly one that is merely a social network) is creepy. I do appreciate facebook being straightforward about using this technology--for whatever reason they are being straightforward.

I did it because it isn't THAT great at recognizing faces...for instance I uploaded a picture with a friend and a dog in it and the dog had another faecbook friend as a tag suggestion. I do not want to be the person that gets tagged as a dog. Or tagged in a photo of someone who looks like me and is drunkenly hanging on a dude or something. But then I disable just about anything, such as the "check in" feature so that people cannot tag me when they "check in" to a place. I very much want to control as much as I can when it comes to my facebook page.

I don't see the need for an aversion to convenience. No harm done, so why avoid it? None of this stuff is new and it will only become more commonplace as time marches on. Fear or aversion to "new" isn't going to stop it, that's for sure. My view is that it's better to learn how to live with it on my terms than to avoid it completely and be behind the majority when it comes to knowing how to handle this sort of technology.

DrPhil · #5 06-09-2011, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alumiyum

I did it because it isn't THAT great at recognizing faces...for instance I uploaded a picture with a friend and a dog in it and the dog had another faecbook friend as a tag suggestion. I do not want to be the person that gets tagged as a dog. Or tagged in a photo of someone who looks like me and is drunkenly hanging on a dude or something. But then I disable just about anything, such as the "check in" feature so that people cannot tag me when they "check in" to a place. I very much want to control as much as I can when it comes to my facebook page.

Then, I think you get the larger point even if you attribute the larger point to something different than what I (and some others) attribute it to.

As an aside:
There are people who claim to be intentionally uploading photos of nonhumans and tagging them so the face recognition can "get confused."

Alumiyum · #6 06-09-2011, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Then, I think you get the larger point even if you attribute the larger point to something different than what I (and some others) attribute it to.

All I know is that it doesn't bother me, personally. I just happen to be a control freak.

DrPhil · #7 06-09-2011, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alumiyum

All I know is that it doesn't bother me, personally. I just happen to be a control freak.

Because you don't want facebook to control you. Exactly.

agzg · #8 06-09-2011, 10:40 AM

How do you change your settings?

NVM, found it: Account > Account Settings > Privacy > Customize Settings > Things Others Share and disabling "Suggest photos of me to friends,"

Mine was already disabled.

Of course, this doesn't stop Facebook from using the facial recognition on you, it just stops friends from being able to autotag.

KD4Me · #9 06-09-2011, 03:04 PM

This reminds me of something odd that happened a couple of weeks ago. I received a notification that someone whose name I didn't recognize had tagged a picture of me on facebook. I logged on to look at it, and sure enough, it was a picture from college of me and three other people, only one of whom I remember ever meeting. The name of the only other person tagged was the same as the person who had tagged me (not the person that I recognized. I am not fb friends with that person, either). I untagged it because I didn't particularly like the picture and frankly, it creeped me out to have been tagged by someone I didn't know. Does anyone know how a person can be tagged by someone who is not their "friend"?

33girl · #10 06-09-2011, 04:43 PM

My friend A, who I tagged in a photo of mine, tagged his friend B in the same photo. I'm not FB friends with her. That's probably what happened. Even if the person you know did the tagging, it might have come up differently when it notified you since it was the other person's photo.

(This is a very confusing few sentences.)

I thought FB apologized for sneaking this in and said they were going to get rid of it.

KD4Me · #11 06-09-2011, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 33girl

My friend A, who I tagged in a photo of mine, tagged his friend B in the same photo. I'm not FB friends with her. That's probably what happened. Even if the person you know did the tagging, it might have come up differently when it notified you since it was the other person's photo.

(This is a very confusing few sentences.)

Ha! My explanation of what happened was confusing, too! What happened in my case was different, though. There were three other people besides me in the picture, none of whom I am FB friends with, but one who I did recognize from college. One of the people I don't know was tagged, and the notification that I received was that he had tagged me. What I'm trying to say is, is that FB shouldn't have "known" that there was any connection between any of us.

After reading azgz's post, I checked my settings, and they are set to not allow facial recognition. It said that only your fb friends can tag you, but that's not what happened in my case. Strange.

DrPhil · #12 06-09-2011, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KD4Me

There were three other people besides me in the picture, none of whom I am FB friends with, but one who I did recognize from college. One of the people I don't know was tagged, and the notification that I received was that he had tagged me. What I'm trying to say is, is that FB shouldn't have "known" that there was any connection between any of us.

After reading azgz's post, I checked my settings, and they are set to not allow facial recognition. It said that only your fb friends can tag you, but that's not what happened in my case. Strange.

KD4Me · #13 06-09-2011, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrPhil

I am totally laughing at this because my first thought was, "Oh, no, xyz found me" because the person that I knew was not one that I would want to be found by, if you know what I mean!

ElieM · #14 06-09-2011, 09:17 PM

I quite like it, because I like to know where all the pictures of me are

christiangirl · #15 06-09-2011, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KD4Me

azgz

*giggles*

I do that all the time!

I was wondering why my FB was "suggesting" people for me to tag. Yeah, me no likey. It gives too much leeway for being tagged in the wrong photo, like Alumiyum said. If someone who looks like me is tagged in a photo of her half-naked and dancing on a table, I don't want the chances of my name being inserted to increase. People mistakenly tag me in photos enough without the feature.