Meta Rekindles Facial Recognition Technology to Combat "Celeb Bait" Scams
Introduction
Three years after Meta shut down facial recognition software on Facebook amidst a groundswell of privacy and regulator pushback, the social media giant is testing the service again as part of a crackdown on "celeb bait" scams.
The New Trial
Meta will enroll about 50,000 public figures in a trial that involves automatically comparing their Facebook profile photos with images used in suspected scam advertisements. If the images match and Meta believes the ad are scams, it will block them. The celebrities will be notified of their enrollment and can opt out if they do not want to participate, the company said.
Global Rollout
The company plans to roll out the trial globally from December, excluding some large jurisdictions where it does not have regulatory clearance, such as Britain, the European Union, South Korea, and the U.S. states of Texas and Illinois.
Monika Bickert’s Statement
Monika Bickert, Meta’s vice president of content policy, said in a briefing with journalists that the company was targeting public figures whose likenesses it had identified as having been used in scam ads. "The idea here is: roll out as much protection as we can for them. They can opt out of it if they want to, but we want to be able to make this protection available to them and easy for them," she said.
Addressing Regulator Concerns
The test shows a company trying to thread the needle of using potentially invasive technology to address regulator concerns about rising numbers of scams while minimizing complaints about its handling of user data, which have followed social media companies for years. When Meta shuttered its facial recognition system in 2021, deleting the face scan data of one billion users, it cited "growing societal concerns".
Regulatory Compliance
Under the new trial, the company said it will immediately delete any face data generated by comparisons with suspected advertisements regardless of whether it detected a scam. The tool being tested was put through Meta’s "robust privacy and risk review process" internally, as well as discussed with regulators, policymakers, and privacy experts externally before tests began.
Additional Use Cases
Meta said it also plans to test using facial recognition data to let non-celebrity users of Facebook and another one of its platforms, Instagram, regain access to accounts that have been compromised by a hacker or locked due to forgetting a password.
Conclusion
Meta’s decision to rekindle facial recognition technology in response to "celeb bait" scams is an attempt to balance the need for effective protection measures with the need to address concerns about user data. While this trial is limited to public figures, the company’s expansion of the technology to non-celebrity users could have far-reaching implications for the management of user data and the fight against online scams.
FAQs
- What is the purpose of Meta’s new facial recognition trial?
- To prevent "celeb bait" scams by automatically comparing public figures’ Facebook profile photos with images used in suspected scam advertisements.
- Which public figures will participate in the trial?
- Approximately 50,000 public figures will be enrolled in the trial.
- Can participating public figures opt out of the trial?
- Yes, they can opt out if they do not want to participate.
- Which jurisdictions will be excluded from the trial?
- Britain, the European Union, South Korea, and the U.S. states of Texas and Illinois.