Facebook had created a facial recognition app back in 2015. The app was made specifically for internal use and enabled the employees so that they can point their phones to their colleagues and identify them.
This was first reported by Business Insider, and the app was never released by the public. The app was developed between 2015 and 2016, and it has since then been discontinued. The report cites unnamed sources and claimed that one of the versions of these apps was capable of recognising practically anyone on the social network. That can indeed put anyone on the social network at privacy risk if the facial recognition tool gathers enough data.
This can indeed be a risky proposition and has once again brought Facebook and privacy concerns to the fore. However, Facebook has denied that the facial recognition app in any way puts the members of the social network at risk. While admitting that the facial recognition app was developed for in house use and was never used for any of the members on the social media network.
It should be remembered that Facebook was criticised in the past for the use of facial recognition. The new revelation has increased the anxiety among the thousands of Facebook users once again.
A spokesperson from the social network giant had this to say, “As a way to learn about new technologies, our teams regularly build apps to use internally. The app described here was only available to Facebook employees, and could only recognize employees and their friends who had face recognition enabled.”
