Violation of users ‘privacy is a constant thorn in Facebook
Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s business strategy that refuses to go away. German authorities
are now revisiting Facebook's facial recognition technology saying that the
company was illegally amassing a database of its users ‘picture without their
permission.
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When the facial recognition technology was first
introduced it created a storm of protest from users saying that it had the
potential for misuse and was a blatant violation of privacy.
Germany's data protection officials who had been
investigating this earlier dropped it in June this year, hoping to convince
Facebook to change its policies through bilateral talks.
However with the social networking site showing no
signs of responding to these overtures, Germany’s data protection commissioner
Johannes Caspar said he had no alternative but to re-open the investigations.
“We have no other option but to reopen our
investigation,” Caspar told the New York Times in an interview. “We have met
repeatedly with Facebook but have not been able to get their cooperation on
this issue, which has grave implications for personal data.”
Facebook's facial recognition technology uses
analytical software that can compile archives of users' photos and prompts them
to tag people whom they know. In Europe this constitutes a grave violation of
data protection laws that require companies to get specific permission from
users.
The German regulator has demanded that the company
should destroy the photographic database that it has acquired in Germany and
make appropriate changes to its policies so that subscribers have the choice to
opt-in or opt-out from this technology.
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Facebook's contention is that this practice is legal
in Ireland where its European operations are based.
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