Question: Is there anything more annoying on Facebook than having yourself tagged in photos you don’t want to be tagged in? No, there is not! I recently had someone I knew years ago send me friend request me on Facebook, which I foolishly accepted, and then she immediately tagged me in a photo that I didn’t really want to be tagged in, while I was away from my computer no less, so I couldn’t un-tag myself immediately. I was like, “Are you f*cking kidding me?” I wanted to punch somebody I was so goddamn mad.
And I know I’m not the only one — I hear people complain about this, on and offline, all the time. So what does Facebook do in response to the constant bitching about such annoyances: Though they have yet to make an announcement about it, Facebook is using facial recognition technology to make it easier for people to tag others, of course.
Well, now might be a good time to check your Facebook privacy settings as many Facebook users are reporting that the site has enabled the option in the last few days without giving users any notice.
There are billions of photographs on Facebook’s servers. As your Facebook friends upload their albums, Facebook will try to determine if any of the pictures look like you. And if they find what they believe to be a match, they may well urge one of your Facebook friends to tag it with your name.
The tagging is still done by your friends, not by Facebook, but rather creepily Facebook is now pushing your friends to go ahead and tag you.
Remember, Facebook does not give you any right to pre-approve tags. Instead the onus is on you to untag yourself in any photo a friend has tagged you in. After the fact.
Sophos goes on to explain how you can disable the “suggest photos of me to friends” thing in your privacy settings, or you can always go around wearing makeup like Pris from Blade Runner all the time, which reportedly wards off Facebook’s facial recognition software. I suppose it’d be too much to ask that Zuckerberg and company stop making opt-in the default setting on this sort of horsesh*t? They always made it sound like it’s so easy to opt-out, like the guy below taking a seat in a car through the window, but it’s always so much more difficult.
(Enhanced image of Pris from Blade Runner via)