(Image source: LA Times)

BY LEXA DECKERT

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Facebook is under scrutiny again -- this time Germany is calling the company out for its facial recognition feature. Here’s WTTG...


“Germany is pushing back against new Facebook technology. It claims the facial recognition system used to tag photos violates privacy laws. The feature automatically recognizes people in the photo and adds their name to it."


The German government’s problem is that there’s no way for users to fully turn off the feature. The Local reports..


“...the feature has raised concerns among privacy advocates, who worry the site is saving sensitive biometric data. Although users can opt out of the service, this only prevents Facebook from identifying them in photos automatically -- it does not stop the service from gathering data from photos.”


Johannes Caspar -- Hamburg’s data protection chief -- took action because he believes not everyone realizes what’s going on. He sent Facebook a letter detailing his complaints and tells ZDnet...


“We told Facebook that they should decide within two weeks whether to execute our request to delete the data or not... If they say 'We won't delete the data and we will collect further biometric data', then we will come to a decision about what legal measures we will take.”

It’s possible Facebook would have to pay a fine up to 300,000 euros. But KABC says --  the company insists it’s done nothing wrong.


“Hamburg’s agency for data protection and information security is demanding the social network delete data collected from this function. A Facebook spokesperson says the company is 100% certain the feature does not violate the law but will consider the demand.”


One writer for Deutsche Welle says Germans have a rich history of privacy concerns.


“Germany has among some of the strictest data protection and privacy laws in the European Union, largely created in the wake of informational abuses perpetrated by the Nazis and the Stasi, the East German secret police. One of the foundational concepts of German data protection law is that no data can be collected without the express consent of the user.”


But Facebook isn’t the only social media giant getting into facial recognition. A blogger for Forbes says -- it may soon just be a cost of putting your life on the web.


“Facebook rival Google recently acquired PittPatt, a facial recognition company... Meanwhile, Intel and Microsoft are incorporating face recognition into digital billboards. Our notions of privacy are constantly changing. … Given facial recognition technology’s increasing adoption, it may soon seem quaint to expect that we won’t be recognized by face by strangers.”

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Transcript by Newsy.