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Right now, Facebook’s facial-recognition software can sense who is in your pictures and make tagging suggestions, but what if the social network could further learn behaviors and preferences by reading the Gap sweatshirt you’re wearing and seeing that Coca-Cola can in your hand?
Following Facebook’s recent acquisition of facial-recognition software company Face.com for an undisclosed amount of money last week, some users have expressed concern that the expansion of this type of technology on the social network could encroach on their privacy rights. Facebook hasn’t said what it’s future plans are for Face.com or its technology and would not comment for this story.
Facebook has been using the Israeli startup’s software for about a year and a half, accessing the billions of pictures sitting on its servers to learn the faces of you and your friends. The news that Facebook would be bringing the vendor in-house implies that the company sees the technology as an area for potential growth.
The acquisition — which is rumored to cost $60 million — won’t even close for a few weeks. But because Facebook’s rapid user growth has slowed due to so many people joining the site in recent years, it needs to boost engagement in other ways.
“Whether the acquisition is to increase the use of facial-recognition software on the site or is just a financial move that makes more sense, it’s unclear at this point,” Chester Wisniewski, a senior security adviser for security firm Sophos, told Mashable. “But it certainly raises security concerns for many who feel uncomfortable knowing that Facebook is analyzing their images.
“It’s also possible that this could open up doors for advertisers to target users in new ways based on what they are doing in pictures,” Wisniewski said. “But this would raise even more security concerns moving forward.”
In the meantime, some users might exercise more caution with how they upload pictures.
“It’s hard to keep track of all of the privacy settings on Facebook and people want to feel secure when posting personal information, so users may find themselves sharing less on the site,” Wisniewski said. “The recent news that LinkedIn passwords were compromised helped people realize that just because it’s a big company doesn’t mean that data is safe.”
There isn’t a privacy setting to prevent Facebook from collecting facial-recognition data from right now, but you can opt out of the site auto-suggesting whether or not you may be in pictures.
What do you think about the future of facial-recognition software? How do you think Facebook might approach the technology moving forward? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
BONUS: 10 Innovative Uses of Facebook Timeline for Brands
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The soda company's branded Facebook Timeline page took advantage of the Leap Year by pretending that the extra day "created a rip in the Fanta space-time continuum and sucked four of our characters: Gigi, Lola, Floyd and Tristan out of the Cover Photo and into the past."
Fans of Fanta's Page must engage in its "Lost in Time" game, which requires navigating through the Fanta Timeline, to bring the characters back to the future.
Red Bull immediately came out with the "Red Bull Timeline Timewarp" when it switched over to the new features.
The game, which ends March 15, is a scavenger hunt for fans, rewarding them with prizes for finding hidden clues throughout the brand's Timeline.
The men's deodorant company is known for its quirky, viral campaigns, and it's living up to expectations on the brand page.
Between hilarious statuses, Old Spice posts odd photoshopped images well-suited for Internet culture -- including an epic cover photo, which features tiger eyes, a helicopter and a can of Old Spice shooting lightning out of a volcano. Only on the Internet...
ESPN is making good use of the "fill-in-the-blank" approach to current events in sports, and lets fans shout out to their favorite teams.
The liquor company uses Timeline to give its fans a sneak peak into the fictional captain's life at sea.
This is a great way for musicians and other bands to utilize Timeline. Fans enjoy fun and anecdotal facts about the band and its history.
Coca Cola's Timeline encourages fans to solve riddles that lead to various interactive websites. For example, this one leads to blowingbubblesinthesky.com.
Verizon asks its Facebook fans to submit photos from their Verizon phones or tablest for a chance to win a tablet and be featured as the cover photo.
For a company that dates as far back as Ford, Timeline provides a great opportunity to show off old photos and share extensive history.
Facebook recently extended Timeline back to the year 1800. Organizations such as the U.S. Navy and Army can now share their full histories.
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5 ![Interactive Furniture Responds to Touch [PICS]](https://iza-server.uibk.ac.at/pywb/dilimag/20210113092156im_/http://6.mshcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/125,Nunoerin.jpg)
The sun rising in the east and setting in the west raises privacy concerns.
you bet… thats cool…
I Am Jack’s Complete Lack of Surprise.
Get out of my face, Get out of my Facebook..Recognition software engaged!
Facebook should really consider how this new facial recognition system brings value to the end-users and to their business.
For End-users (for consumers and facebook users), what value does it bring us? Does that help us tag easily and why should we embrace this system? How can that help improve our experience in using facebook pages?
For Facebook business, what value does it bring: more users? more analytic marketing tools?
or is this raising privacy issue?
These are some important things that they may already know…or would have to know.
At LEAST 4 years ago facebook recognized a Wii game in the background of a photo and tagged it as such without my permission. This infringement is not new.
Gmail already targets ads based on what it reads in our emails, Face.com could target ads based on what they see in our photos and if have to see ads, why shouldn’t they be user appropriate
i wrote about this on sky and then all off a sudden i cant sign in ,if i sign in i cant comment because im not signed in , how ever sky bought shares in facebook and tryed to get people to sign into sky only using facebook ,when people protested they posted a item that said people misunderstood .
Facebook paid 38million for company ,why when they could have just bought the program !
The company they bought was an Israeli company that had contracts with Mossad the Israeli security dept ,no one was asked if they wanted this ,it has far reaching consequences .
The idear is get people to sign in to web sites with there picture and that picture is then in a security file ,but who,s files ?
I wont go onto a web site that requires me to log in with my picture ,and this is the next big thing ,if you comment on a sensative issue your image can be used to block you from signing in or your pic can be placed besides the comment without your permission ,you can bet it will be put into those very small print rules covered under the [you agree to abide by the rules ]
UK 1980s the then telecom s company supplied computers to the uk ,they were the ones where information was sent by fax problem was these machines were made in china ,a lot of top companies bought these machines along with the government ,in those days a fax machine could be programed to send a duplicate fax to another number ,these machines were called Merlin ,things have moved on since then .
Face recognition is a device tool you can put a face into a search program and come up with a complete life history , Xboxes and other game machines can store and send your photo id ,computers have been found to take your pic when nyou are on a web site !
For me i have a piece of black tape over mine !
How long do think before you can only sign in to face book using you web cam ?
Facebook is the most prolific information gatherer ,look at your page on there how many of the pics of people shown do you actully know ? facebook is by association =people know people but you dont actully know them but you are all linked ,including people you have bought things from ,the security forces use just such programs ,face recognition just speeds things up !
Did Facebook have any mention at all that the face recognition company they bought had contracts with Mossad ,would they comment on that ,no they would not !