Meta plans to shut down Facebook's decade-old facial recognition system this month, deleting the face scan data of 1B+ users following legal and regulatory woes

Saying it wants “to find the right balance” with the technology, the social network will delete the face scan data of more than one billion users.

New York Times 2021-11-03

Context & Ripple Effects

Facebook had expanded facial-recognition notices in 2018 around scans of photos containing untagged users. The shutdown reverses that broad Facebook use case and removes the associated face-scan data at far larger scale.

The move is a retrenchment rather than a full exit from biometrics: related coverage said Meta would retain its DeepFace model and other recognition systems for potential metaverse use.

First-order effects

More than one billion Facebook users are set to lose the stored face-scan data tied to the decade-old recognition system, while Facebook retires that product.
Meta narrows its facial-recognition footprint amid the legal and regulatory pressures cited in the report, while retaining selected underlying systems.

Second-order effects

Meta can redirect biometric development away from Facebook’s broad photo-scanning feature toward product-specific applications, consistent with its stated metaverse plans.
The retained technology leaves Meta able to pursue narrower safety and access uses; its later tests for scam-ad detection and account recovery show the kinds of bounded cases that can follow a consumer-facing shutdown.

Third-order effects

Facial recognition on large consumer platforms is likely to move from default social-network features toward explicitly bounded uses where the permission rationale and user benefit are clearer.
The dividing line is increasingly not whether platforms possess biometric models, but whether they can justify retaining and applying user biometric data for a particular service.

The trend: Consumer platforms are recasting facial recognition from broad identity and social features into narrower, purpose-specific tools shaped by data-permission constraints.

Discussion

@kashhill Kashmir Hill on x
My jaw dropped to the floor when I got this news. Facebook is shutting down the facial recognition system that it introduced more than 10 years ago and deleting the faceprints of 1 billion people: https://t.co/kzc9PhFffB
@nytimes @nytimes on x
Breaking News: Facebook plans to delete face scan data from over 1 billion users, shutting down a facial recognition system that became a privacy headache. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@kevinbankston Kevin Bankston on x
I'm very proud of the work—both internally, and from the many privacy advocates working on these issues—that has led to today's announcement that Facebook will be shutting down its facial recognition system and deleting over a billion face prints. https://about.fb.com/...
@jovialjoy Joy Buolamwini on x
The FacePurge should continue! Years of ongoing pressure internally and externally has been instrumental in pushing for the deletion of faceprints collected clandestinely. @AJLUnited @fightfortheftr @Data4BlackLives @ACLU_Mass @EFF @epic @ColorOfChange @mediajustice 1/n https://t…
@kashhill Kashmir Hill on x
But this is a ‘gone, for now’ situation. As my partner on this story, @RMac18, reported just months ago, Facebook has discussed the “pros and cons” of putting facial recognition capabilities into its smart glasses. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@eff @eff on x
Facebook has announced they will be deleting over a billion face recognition templates as they shut down their entire face recognition system. This is great news for Facebook users, and for the global movement pushing back on this technology. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@katecrawford Dr. Kate Crawford on x
So Facebook is deleting one billion facial recognition scans, but it's keeping DeepFace, the model that is trained on all those faces. Note that “the company has also not ruled out incorporating facial recognition into future products.” Very meta. 👀 https://twitter.com/...
@swodinsky Shoshana Wodinsky on x
the fact that we were *so ready* to accept the idea of fb doing something decent w/o strings attached means that we really haven't learned anything, huh
@kharijohnson Khari Johnson on x
“If this prompts a policymaker to take the conversation about facial recognition seriously enough to actually pull some legislation through Congress ... this would become a turning point or a critical moment.” - @rajiinio https://www.wired.com/...
@xor Parker Higgins on x
WOW. Real results from the tireless efforts of privacy activists and advocates who have made these “societal concerns” impossible to ignore https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@aprilaser April Glaser on x
It's worth being clear that Facebook was found to be using facial recognition illegally for years — in violation of a ruling at the FTC https://www.nytimes.com/.... Facebook also spent years fighting biometric state privacy laws using an NRA-like approach https://slate.com/... ht…
@tomgara Tom Gara on x
“One of the largest shifts in facial recognition usage in the technology's history... its removal will result in the deletion of more than a billion people's individual facial recognition templates” https://about.fb.com/...
@shiraovide Shira Ovide on x
Maybe it shouldn't be surprising, but it is, that a powerful tech company weighed the pros and cons of technology and decided that the the drawbacks weren't worth the benefits. More of this please. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
Facebook is ending its decade-long facial recognition feature (for now) and deleting the face scan data of one billion users. Story w/ @kashhill https://www.nytimes.com/...
@jt_teran @jt_teran on x
Saving this tweet for 2026 when the AP tells us it turns out Facebook didn't delete shit https://twitter.com/...
@broderick Ryan Broderick on x
They have the facial recognition data they need for phase 2, so they're jettisoning what they collected in phase 1. https://twitter.com/...
@brianbrackeen Brian Brackeen on x
This is clearly positive, yet let's not applaud too loudly. @Meta used this tech to get a result, and now that the result is complete they want credit for moving on. https://twitter.com/...
@evacide Eva on x
My feed is equally divided between people who think Facebook's decision to stop using its facial recognition system and delete faceprints is a big deal and the people who think it's a desperate grab for positive headlines that changes nothing of substance. https://about.fb.com/..…
@om @om on x
And how the hell does the whole “metaverse” vision that Zuck painted last week reconcile with this notion of moving away from face surveillance. For Facebook, that is the business model. But sure, get excited, write articles rejoicing the move. It makes for a great headline.
@om @om on x
This is a good PR hit. In reality it doesn't change anything. All the benefits/knowledge from this visual data set has been mined, perfected & implemented. Deleting the data set doesn't mean much. The algorithms have been perfected. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@guntruth @guntruth on x
“delete data” Uh huh. BTW, I have a some lovely oceanfront property in Alberta I'd like to talk to you about. https://twitter.com/...
@samfbiddle Sam Biddle on x
@petermdenton @katecrawford exactly
@edzitron Ed Zitron on x
[jingling keys] look were the good guys now https://twitter.com/...
@charlescearl @charlescearl on x
@luke_stark Regulation? “Structural separation” is probably a bare minimum at this point https://www.eff.org/...
@akianastasiou Aki Anastasiou on x
Facebook plans to shut down its facial recognition program. Facebook will no longer automatically recognize people's faces in photos or videos. https://www.cnbc.com/...
@rajiinio Deb Raji on x
To be clear: We as a society should never have to rely on corporate gears miraculously aligning once-in-a-lifetime to do the right thing. Ever. We deserve to be protected by regulation! The thing to celebrate is that this will get policymakers to prioritize & pay attention. https…
@caseyjohnston Casey Johnston on x
and there it is, the turn https://twitter.com/...
@petermdenton Peter Denton on x
@katecrawford @samfbiddle Once you got the model, you got the model. Do we not remember when FB had to remove Acxiom? It didn't matter! They already had a correlation model between behavior and consumption, based on demographics from Acxiom. Once you know the predictors, you just…
@aprilaser April Glaser on x
I wouldn't interpret Facebook saying its shutting down facial recognition as a sign that the company is capable of regulating itself and yielding to the concerns of privacy advocates by any stretch https://about.fb.com/...
@shahidforchange Shahid Buttar on x
How many promises from Facebook (or Meta, or whatever brands they concoct to evade public critique) have been violated in the past? Why do journalists report on the company's promises as if they had any credibility? The announcement is great—but we'll believe it when we see it. h…
@om @om on x
The article itself says “it will not eliminate the software that powers the system, which is an advanced algorithm called DeepFace. The company has also not ruled out incorporating facial recognition technology into future products.”
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
But the public had no say in Facebook's decision to stop using facial recognition on its social network. It may have been informed by public criticism, but it was a unilateral move made by a corporate entity. https://twitter.com/...
@aprilaser April Glaser on x
Facebook also told Gizmodo that it's not shutting facial recognition down on Instagram or its other products.. Instagram is currently embroiled in a major class action lawsuit for its use of facial recognition https://gizmodo.com/...
@blackamazon @blackamazon on x
Please note that Joy is one of OG's who was taken out of all the “mainstream media coverage about the necessity of this Respect on the name https://twitter.com/...
@eculliford Elizabeth Culliford on x
NEW: Facebook is shutting down its facial recognition system. It says it's going to delete the “facial recognition templates” of more than a billion people. Here's the story — https://www.reuters.com/...
@jfreewright Jeffrey Wright on x
I dunno. How 'bout we just make it illegal to store, manipulate, monetize people's data and call it a day. https://twitter.com/...
@marshacollier Marsha Collier on x
Facebook Will SHUT DOWN Facial Recognition System in Photos The change will now delete the “facial recognition templates” of more than 1 billion people. #privacy via @Reut... https://www.reuters.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@peninsulaqatar @peninsulaqatar on x
Facebook will no longer include the names of people recognized in photos after the removal of face recognition, but will otherwise function normally. #Facebook #Meta #facialrecognition https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/ ...
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
@kashhill Anyone reading today's move should be aware that Meta, Facebook, watever is reserving the right to deploy facial recognition on future products. Its future CTO discussed the possibility of using it in smart glasses in an internal meeting earlier this year. https://twitt…
@slpng_giants @slpng_giants on x
It really says something about a company when they make a statement that they're doing something undeniably good for the world and no one believes them in the least. https://twitter.com/...
@katienotopoulos Katie Notopoulos on x
FB is making this seem like a decision purely about ethics, when I suspect it simply wasn't that useful anymore? In 2010 people used to upload big albums of photos from a party with tons of faces; people just don't do that now https://t.co/XucizxLL8J
@katienotopoulos Katie Notopoulos on x
This is like sunsetting the “Poke” feature and trumpeting it as a big win for anti-harassment
@digiphile Alex Howard on x
Here's @Facebook's announcement, annotated by a staffer who worked on it: https://twitter.com/... Here's hoping Facebo.... er, @Meta listens to more of its staff & prevents its technologies from being used for genocide by far-right regimes in the future: https://www.wired.com/...
@stephenpunwasi Stephen Punwasi on x
Facebook just announced they'll discontinue its facial recognition program. The question is what are they getting ahead of, and how was it abused? 🧐 $FB #facebook https://www.cnbc.com/...
@neontaster Noam Blum on x
Again I'm treating this with extreme suspicion. Facebook needs good press right now and I'm unconvinced that they even need this data anymore if they've already used it to develop tools that they still posses now. https://twitter.com/...
@rcalo Ryan Calo on x
You know, I didn't think this was possible. Congratulations to all the people—the academics, the activists, the artists—who have pushed back so effectively against facial recognition. https://twitter.com/...
@jbadomics @jbadomics on x
“societal concerns” = our office of genera counsel just got an unfriendly FBI interview 🤣 https://twitter.com/...
@alexhern Alex Hern on x
This is good, and makes me optimistic about other fights. https://about.fb.com/...
@jason_grosse Jason Grosse on x
Today we announced changes to Face Recognition at Facebook. Really excited to have worked on this for the past several months. https://twitter.com/...
@jkosseff Jeff Kosseff on x
This is very good news but it does not reduce the need for a national privacy law that addresses facial recognition. https://about.fb.com/...
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
The company that wants us to wear cameras on our faces is deleting some of its facial recognition data because it's being responsible. 😁
@mattburgess1 Matt Burgess on x
This is unexpected - and big! Facebook is shutting down its facial recognition system and deleting the face scan data of more than a billion people. It will delete the data by December https://www.nytimes.com/...
@kashhill Kashmir Hill on x
Why now? Meta's VP of AI, @an_open_mind, says it is because of the “many concerns about the place of facial recognition technology in society.” Facebook/Meta's post about the decision: https://t.co/dFksAnMntg
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Thx. This reminds me, Kash. Did Facebook ever sue or take legal action against Clearview for allegedly scraping its data for facial recognition? You know, the company Mark's board member, Peter Thiel, invested in? https://twitter.com/...
@nickwatts1988 Nick Watts on x
Fantastic news for privacy advocates 👏🏻 https://twitter.com/...
@jonrosenberg Jon Rosenberg🌮 on x
This seems good, which is why I am highly skeptical. Perhaps this is to get us to lower our guard before the Hunter Killer robots are released https://twitter.com/...

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