Meta Reintroduces Facial Recognition on Facebook and Instagram with Enhanced Security Features

The company will use this strategy to combat scams and make account recovery easier.

Meta Resumes Facial Recognition Use

Meta has reinstated its facial recognition technology after a hiatus exceeding three years. The move is aimed at curbing scams and aiding users in regaining access to their accounts.

Combatting Scam Advertisements

The initial deployment of this technology will focus on identifying fraudulent advertisements featuring celebrities and public figures. According to a Meta blog post, “If our systems suspect an ad may be a scam involving a public figure’s image at risk for ‘celeb-bait,’ we will attempt to use facial recognition technology to compare the faces in the advertisement with the Facebook and Instagram profile photos of the public figure”. This technology promises to be quicker and more accurate than manual review.

Account Recovery Assistance

Additionally, Meta is testing facial recognition tools to tackle another persistent issue on Facebook and Instagram: account recovery. The company is experimenting with a new “video selfie” feature that allows users to upload a video clip of themselves, which Meta will then compare to their profile photos when they are locked out of their accounts. However, this feature may not be applicable to everyone, such as many business pages that do not include a personal profile photo.

Data Protection and Potential Criticism

Meta asserts it will “immediately delete” facial data used for comparisons and that scans will not be used for other purposes. Nonetheless, the reintroduction of facial recognition could draw criticism from privacy advocates, given Meta’s controversial history with this technology, including past lawsuits in Texas and Illinois. Despite these challenges, Meta hopes to roll out this technology globally by 2025, though it will not be available in certain regions like Illinois, Texas, the UK, and the EU due to regulatory constraints.