Meta Continues Face Recognition for Metaverse Tools

The Metaverse firm will continue its biometrics software despite ending their use on social media apps

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Face Recognition
Mixed RealityReviews

Published: November 5, 2021

Demond Cureton

US tech giant Meta will continue using its facial recognition technologies on its Metaverse suite of applications, despite previously stating on Wednesday it would no longer use them across its social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and others.

According to a Recode report, Meta would exclude the changes from its Metaverse products, which will include its catalogue of Horizon platforms such as Workrooms, Homes, and Worlds.

The news comes after the Menlo Park-based firm wrote in a blog post this week it would end use of its Face Recognition and DeepFace biometric tools on social media apps and remove their collected data.

Jason Grosse, Spokesperson for Meta, told Recode,

“We believe this technology has the potential to enable positive use cases in the future that maintain privacy, control, and transparency, and it’s an approach we’ll continue to explore as we consider how our future computing platforms and devices can best serve people’s needs”

He added Meta would continue to disclose use of potential future applications for similar technologies, how users can control their personal data while using the new technologies, and how the company was “living up to our responsible innovation framework,” among others.

Facebook, now Meta, also allowed users to opt out of Face Recognition in 2019 to control their privacy, Recode added.

Meta Under Fire from UK Lawmakers

The news comes as Meta faces increased scrutiny over its rebrand from Facebook in late October and revealed its shift to developing the Metaverse, an interconnected, ubiquitous interface of mixed reality (MR) content widely seen as the successor to the Internet.

Responding to growing pressure, Nick Clegg, Meta’s Vice President of Global Affairs, vowed to tackle concerns over internet safety, stating his company would work with academics, lawmakers, and regulators to “put the guard rails in place before the technology matures.”

Meta also pledged $50 million USD to “ethically” build the Metaverse with several key supranational groups, and later stated it would work with major XR organisations such as the XR Association.

Further woes for the Metaverse firm erupted on Thursday after British lawmakers warned big tech firms and their CEOs could potentially face jail time and massive sanctions for failing to protect online users.

The warnings come after the killing of Conservative MP David Amess in October and death of a young woman exposed to harmful content on Facebook’s Instagram social media platform.

 

 

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