Facebook and Instagram are currently evaluating new facial recognition technologies designed to help users swiftly recover compromised accounts and address fraudulent celebrity-endorsed scams. Meta has declared its intention to introduce trial features capable of scanning users’ faces to authenticate their identity by comparing them with profile pictures on both platforms.
These tools are primarily intended to defend both celebrities and ordinary individuals from “celeb-bait” advertisements. Such ads impersonate famous personalities to deceive users into visiting fraudulent websites. Presently, Meta employs automated technologies like machine learning to identify content that breaches its policies; however, the company acknowledges that distinguishing celeb-bait ads from legitimate ones can be challenging.
Meta stated that if its systems suspect an advertisement could be a scam featuring a public figure’s image at risk for celeb-bait, facial recognition technology will be implemented to compare the faces in the ad with the public figure’s Facebook and Instagram profile photos. If a match is verified and the ad is determined to be a scam, the ad will be blocked.
Celebrities are required to have a Facebook or Instagram profile to utilize these new facial recognition tools. Meta reports that early testing with a small group of public figures has shown promising results concerning detection speed and effectiveness. More celebrities affected by celeb-bait content will be automatically enrolled in the upcoming weeks, with the option to opt-out if desired.
Additionally, Meta’s facial recognition tools will eventually permit Facebook and Instagram users to regain access to their locked accounts by submitting a video selfie. This process is similar to authentication systems like Apple’s Face ID. While the availability date for this feature remains unspecified, Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, mentioned that it is currently in its initial phases, with broader implementation anticipated in the coming months.
Previously, Meta integrated facial recognition technology into Facebook to identify and tag users in photos and videos. However, this feature was discontinued in 2021 following an extensive privacy dispute. The company now assures that its new tools have undergone security and privacy evaluations and are being discussed with regulators and policymakers.