Facebook says it is ending its facial recognition system that automatically identifies users in pictures and videos. The company’s Vice President of Artificial Intelligence, Jerome Pesenti, announced the change this week in a statement on the company’s corporate website. Pesenti said the decision to end the system was “part of a company-wide move to limit the use of facial recognition in our products.” The facial recognition system on Facebook is to be ended “in the coming weeks.” The move comes as the social media service faces accusations that it failed to take action to protect users even though its own research suggested its products can be harmful. In the past, Facebook has also faced widespread criticism for not doing enough to protect the privacy of its users. The decision also followed a company announcement that it was changing its name from Facebook to Meta. Industry experts have said the name change appeared to be an attempt to move attention away from unfavorable media attention in recent months. “This change will represent one of the largest shifts in facial recognition usage in the technology’s history,” Pesenti said in his statement. As a result, “more than a billion people’s individual facial recognition templates” will be removed, the statement added. Meta has said that more than a third of Facebook’s daily active users have given their permission to have their faces recognized by the social network’s system. That represents about 640 million people worldwide. Facebook first started offering facial recognition about 10 years ago. But over time, it has made it easier for users to opt out of the system as it faced more pressure from courts and government officials. Pesenti said the company still sees facial recognition technology as a powerful tool. But he noted that the situations where it can be helpful “need to be weighed against growing concerns about this technology as a whole.”
Title: Facebook Shuts Down Facial Recognition System
Content: <div id='article-page'><div id='article-content' data-media-url='//news-app-staging.s3.amazonaws.com' data-base-url='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5355/A.wav' data-capture-url='//staging.analytics.lingraphica.com/events/capture_news' data-article-title='Facebook Shuts Down Facial Recognition System' data-article-id='5947'><script src='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/javascripts/getscripts.js'></script><link rel='stylesheet' href='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/stylesheets/article.css' type='text/css' /><div class='article'><p><span data-start-time='0' data-end-time='13583'>Facebook says it is ending its facial recognition system that automatically identifies users in pictures and videos.</span> <span data-start-time='13583' data-end-time='28479'>The company’s Vice President of Artificial Intelligence, Jerome Pesenti, announced the change this week in a statement on the company’s corporate website.</span> <span data-start-time='28479' data-end-time='43375'>Pesenti said the decision to end the system was “part of a company-wide move to limit the use of facial recognition in our products.” </span> <span data-start-time='43375' data-end-time='51458'>The facial recognition system on Facebook is to be ended “in the coming weeks.”</span> <span data-start-time='51458' data-end-time='69354'>The move comes as the social media service faces accusations that it failed to take action to protect users even though its own research suggested its products can be harmful. </span> <span data-start-time='69354' data-end-time='81708'>In the past, Facebook has also faced widespread criticism for not doing enough to protect the privacy of its users.</span> <span data-start-time='81708' data-end-time='91333'>The decision also followed a company announcement that it was changing its name from Facebook to Meta. </span> <span data-start-time='91333' data-end-time='105875'>Industry experts have said the name change appeared to be an attempt to move attention away from unfavorable media attention in recent months.</span> <span data-start-time='105875' data-end-time='119813'>“This change will represent one of the largest shifts in facial recognition usage in the technology’s history,” Pesenti said in his statement. </span> <span data-start-time='119813' data-end-time='131313'>As a result, “more than a billion people’s individual facial recognition templates” will be removed, the statement added.</span> <span data-start-time='131313' data-end-time='146313'>Meta has said that more than a third of Facebook’s daily active users have given their permission to have their faces recognized by the social network’s system. </span> <span data-start-time='146313' data-end-time='153479'>That represents about 640 million people worldwide.</span> <span data-start-time='153479' data-end-time='161042'>Facebook first started offering facial recognition about 10 years ago. </span> <span data-start-time='161042' data-end-time='174104'>But over time, it has made it easier for users to opt out of the system as it faced more pressure from courts and government officials.</span> <span data-start-time='174104' data-end-time='183479'>Pesenti said the company still sees facial recognition technology as a powerful tool. </span> <span data-start-time='183479' data-end-time='195854'>But he noted that the situations where it can be helpful “need to be weighed against growing concerns about this technology as a whole.”</span> </p></div><div class='control-buttons-sticky' style='display:none;'><div class='control-buttons'><button title='Back' class='back' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Play' class='play' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Pause' class='pause' style='display:none;'></button><button title='Forward' class='forward' disabled='disabled'></button><button class='finished-reading' style='display:none;'>Done</button></div></div></div><div id='article-media'><div id='media-image'><img src='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5355/A.jpeg'/></div></div><div id='question-content' style='display:none;'><div class='vocabulary_question question-container' data-question-id=18210 data-hint-location='0' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5355/what_does_automatically_mean.wav'>What does automatically mean?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='something controlled using machines and not people'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5355/something_controlled_using_machines_and_not_people.wav'><span>something controlled using machines and not people</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5355/in_a_distraught_way_owing_to_fear_anxiety_or_other_emotion.wav'><span>in a distraught way owing to fear, anxiety, or other emotion</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5355/in_a_way_that_relates_to_love.wav'><span>in a way that relates to love</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5355/in_a_way_that_shows_great_attention_to_detail.wav'><span>in a way that shows great attention to detail</span></div></div></div><div class='multiple_choice_question question-container' data-question-id=18211 data-hint-location='81708' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5355/what_did_facebook_change_its_company_name_to.wav'>What did Facebook change its company name to?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='Meta'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5355/meta.wav'><span>Meta</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5355/the_face.wav'><span>The Face</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5355/gram_book.wav'><span>Gram Book</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5355/wall_town.wav'><span>Wall Town</span></div></div></div><div class='sentence_completion_question question-container' data-question-id=18212 data-hint-location='91333' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5355/industry_experts_have_said_the_name_change_appeared_to_be_an_attempt_to_move_attention_away_from_unfavorable_media__blank__in_recent_months.wav'>Industry experts have said the name change appeared to be an attempt to move attention away from unfavorable media <span class='blank'>attention</span> in recent months.</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='attention'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5355/attention.wav'><span>attention</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5355/gifts.wav'><span>gifts</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5355/dinosaurs.wav'><span>dinosaurs</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/5355/weather.wav'><span>weather</span></div></div></div><div class='question-buttons'><button class='skip-button'></button><button class='hint-button'></button><button class='speak-button'></button></div></div></div>
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