Security News > 2021 > November > Facebook to throw out face recognition, delete all template data
We will shut down the Face Recognition system on Facebook as part of a company-wide move to limit the use of facial recognition in our products.
That was a sort-of two way street, helping people who actively wanted to promote themselves on Facebook to help Facebook itself target them with ads.
Very loosely speaking, Facebook would actively help you keep track of your appearances on Facebook for free, if you allowed Facebook to promote its paying customers to you in return, based on recognising your face.
If you have this feature turned on, then it's going to stop working: all existing facial recognition templates will be gradually deleted from Facebook's servers; automatic photo-tagging will, as a consequence, no longer be possible; and the Face recognition option in Facebook's menus will disappear.
If you have opted in, you can opt out manually right away if you like, now you know that even Facebook thinks it's not a great idea.
You don't need to do anything because your stored facial recognition data will be deleted anyway in due course.