Facebook Moments app makes photo sharing easier, but raises privacy concerns

The recent buzz is around Facebook’s new Moments app that aims at making private photo sharing smarter and simpler. However, on the flip side, it has also attracted eyeballs regarding privacy concerns. Firstly, let’s understand how the Moments app works and why Facebook felt the need for such an app. Moments is a separate app that latches onto your  Facebook friends list. It scans the faces and photos from your smartphone and groups similar faces into sets. Moments then suggests users to sync these sets into people who appear in them with a right swipe, or one can simply dismiss the recommendation by swiping to the left.  Yes, that’s a relief when you have to share group photos, especially if you have to retrieve your photos from a friend who had promised to share them all, but never did. Come on, don’t we all have such a friend? Moments is a way to ensure that your special moments don’t fade away. While all this sounds a kind gesture, the problem is Moments uses facial recognition and expects you to keep it active at all times. Now, your images belong to you and aren’t some random images and this is why Facebook needs your permission before identifying your photo. It uses an ‘advanced’ image recognition technology, but there needs to be some code of conduct before it goes pin pointing and grouping faces together. Needless to say, facial recognition software automatically identifies a person in a digital image by comparing facial features and a database. It then links a person’s name to their face in photos or video. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration have been discussing about creating a voluntary Code of Conduct around the use of facial recognition software for sometime now. However, with most groups leaving the panel, the final decision seems to be in trouble. This walkout is now a huge concern as it hampers the privacy with new photo apps, like Moments, that will begin tagging names without the user’s permission. By default users will be tagged, but Facebook settings does provide an option to turn off tagging. The problem is most people aren’t even aware of such things and most users don’t run through the complex terms or policies before clicking on ‘I Agree’. Do you? Do you know if photos you share on Facebook belong to you? Alvaro Bedoya, executive director on the Center on Privacy and Tech at Georgetown Law told USAToday, “Facebook for years has insisted on turning on facial recognition by default, where other services have the user turn it on by choice… So they are essentially creating one of the largest collections out there, because so few people opt out of it.” All in all, facial recognition without your permission is a bit creepy. It may seem a small photo sharing feature today, but could change the way we use technology in the future. You sure don’t want a malicious mind stalking you in the future. The social network had to earlier shut down the feature in Europe due to privacy concerns. The feature is born out of  Facebook’s artificial intelligence lab and follows the same algorithm seen tagging suggestions when one uploads pictures to the social network. ‘Artificial intelligence’ is a term most companies use wisely or avoid using altogether. Moments is now available for users in the US on Android and iOS. However, we wouldn’t be surprised to see it fold into the main Facebook site/app.