Facebook turned on face recognition silently • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook turned on face recognition silently

#71

Post by khedoros1 » Tue, Feb 27, 2018, 5:42 PM UTC

web007 wrote: post #31

tucif wrote: post #24

Here is the facebook site explaining how this works/will work. https://www.facebook.com/about/basics/manage-your-privacy/fa...

I have to assume that this UX is intentionally awful: Go to Settings. Go to More. Tap Privacy Shortcuts. Tap More Settings. Tap Face Recognition. Tap Do you want Facebook to be able to recognize you in photos and videos? Select No if you don't want to let Facebook recognize you in photos and videos. Also, this set of steps doesn't work on the desktop browser. I don't see More or Privacy Shortcuts in My Settings, only…

I can click the little arrow, go to settings, and there's a "Face Recognition" entry in the sidebar, between "Language" and "Notifications".

This is on the desktop website. Sounds like it's hidden deeper if you visit from a phone?

Re: Facebook turned on face recognition silently

#72

Post by bduerst » Tue, Feb 27, 2018, 5:43 PM UTC

I-M-S wrote: post #45

_sdegutis wrote: post #35

On a related note, FB seems to use the microphone, with permissions disabled, when the app isn’t even open, to listen in on our conversations and later advertise things it hears us talking about. I don’t have 100% proof of this but we’ve mentioned things we never googled or even put in our phones or computers and they are pretty specific (purple dress, tactile diaper bags, beer) and they come up the next day or two i…

Reply All made an episode on this: https://www.gimletmedia.com/reply-all/109-facebook-spying

They followed up with that person from that episode, and they all determined that it most likely wasn't microphone listening, just cross platform tracking with instagram.

https://www.gimletmedia.com/reply-all/113-reply-alls-year-en...

Re: Facebook turned on face recognition silently

#73

Post by bjt2n3904 » Tue, Feb 27, 2018, 5:43 PM UTC

electrograv wrote: post #52

bjt2n3904 wrote: post #37

So, here's the weird catch-22. Or perhaps, the illusion of choice. There are two people who are in a photo. One wishes Facebook to use face recognition, the other does not. Facebook will run face recognition on the photo regardless, but how will they know who wants to be recognized, and who doesn't? Simply, they have a model of your face already trained. And they recognize you in photos--you have no say whether or no…

Usually these systems are implemented via a generic face detector that first runs on the whole image, to locate all the faces that are present. After the faces are located, they’re matched against a set of candidates (which I would guess is an enumeration if all your Nth order friends [who don’t opt out of this], to reduce computational complexity). This isn’t the only possible way to do it, but I believe it’s the mo…

Anecdotal, but years ago I uploaded a picture of a friend. He's a bit of a hermit, and doesn't have social media accounts. The picture scrolled by several times that week, and Facebook asked me to tag who this was. (This was perhaps... 2010?) I uploaded perhaps twenty or so photos, but that was the only one they asked about.

I haven't seen this for a while, but I used to get my friends pictures scrolling by. (Not even my own!) "Tag Becky in this photo? Yes/No". Clicking yes confirms what Facebook already knows. Clicking No tells them... what? That they were right, and it is Becky, but I don't want to tag her? What does not responding to the prompt mean?

Re: Facebook turned on face recognition silently

#74

Post by jacquesm » Tue, Feb 27, 2018, 5:43 PM UTC

Joeri wrote: post #68

jacquesm wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is why I do not want anybody to make any pictures of me, especially not if they are active on social media. There are exactly two pictures of me online, the one is 30 years old, the other about 10. The quickest way to get me pissed off is to point a camera at me.

Out of curiosity, aside from emotional distress, what harm are you afraid of?

Why should I have to be afraid of anything?

Is this a riff on the 'if you've got nothing to hide you've got nothing to fear' theme?

I just don't think it is ok that large companies are working their way into datasets about every living body on the planet and that is my right.

Re: Facebook turned on face recognition silently

#75

Post by khedoros1 » Tue, Feb 27, 2018, 5:44 PM UTC

soared wrote: post #17

I wish I could activate it once to see all the previous photos of me that aren't tagged, then turn it off so it doesn't do it in the background. Not that its any safer, but it would make me feel better about it.

Are you sure it's not going in the background anyhow? I thought they've been using facial recognition to tag pictures for years...

Re: Facebook turned on face recognition silently

#76

Post by cdelsolar » Tue, Feb 27, 2018, 5:44 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #54

bjt2n3904 wrote: post #37

So, here's the weird catch-22. Or perhaps, the illusion of choice. There are two people who are in a photo. One wishes Facebook to use face recognition, the other does not. Facebook will run face recognition on the photo regardless, but how will they know who wants to be recognized, and who doesn't? Simply, they have a model of your face already trained. And they recognize you in photos--you have no say whether or no…

Which is why I do not want anybody to make any pictures of me, especially not if they are active on social media. There are exactly two pictures of me online, the one is 30 years old, the other about 10. The quickest way to get me pissed off is to point a camera at me.

Where can I order/make your tinfoil hat?

Re: Facebook turned on face recognition silently

#77

Post by jacquesm » Tue, Feb 27, 2018, 5:44 PM UTC

klenwell wrote: post #70

jacquesm wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is why I do not want anybody to make any pictures of me, especially not if they are active on social media. There are exactly two pictures of me online, the one is 30 years old, the other about 10. The quickest way to get me pissed off is to point a camera at me.

I'm with you. But I'd also be worried about coming off as the angriest (or most paranoid) guy on earth. I probably already hold the title in my family. What would be neat is a polite discreet social signal that politely discreetly signaled this to people with a camera. If you did it right, you might also get rich in a Pet Rock sort of way.

I've had exactly one run-in over 10 years or so about this with someone who did not believe me when I told him to delete a picture of me he just took. Other than that everybody seems to understand just fine.

Re: Facebook turned on face recognition silently

#78

Post by Murrawhip » Tue, Feb 27, 2018, 5:45 PM UTC

batina wrote: post #65

mmjaa wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, I don't see it. Maybe its a USA-only thing? (Europe here.)

Nope, I'm in Europe and got it. Try using this link: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=facerec&section=face_r...

I don't see it in Canada.

Re: Facebook turned on face recognition silently

#79

Post by Gabriel_Martin » Tue, Feb 27, 2018, 5:45 PM UTC

mrtksn wrote: post #10

jugg1es wrote: post #2

The fact that they notified you means it wasn't exactly silent. I saw this notification and turned it off. I wish it hadn't been opt-out and had been an opt-in thing instead.

There's no notification unless you visit Facebook.com, that I no longer do regularly.

I saw it in the app. So this is not accurate.

Re: Facebook turned on face recognition silently

#80

Post by kpennell » Tue, Feb 27, 2018, 5:45 PM UTC

web007 wrote: post #31

tucif wrote: post #24

Here is the facebook site explaining how this works/will work. https://www.facebook.com/about/basics/manage-your-privacy/fa...

I have to assume that this UX is intentionally awful: Go to Settings. Go to More. Tap Privacy Shortcuts. Tap More Settings. Tap Face Recognition. Tap Do you want Facebook to be able to recognize you in photos and videos? Select No if you don't want to let Facebook recognize you in photos and videos. Also, this set of steps doesn't work on the desktop browser. I don't see More or Privacy Shortcuts in My Settings, only…

can't find it on desktop