Surprise, Facebook Is In Trouble Again

With thanks to Erik Sass at Media Post

Like Groundhog Day and taxes, it's becoming an annual (if not semi-annual) ritual: Facebook quietly introduces a new product or service with sweeping implications for customer privacy; people finally notice; controversy ensues; everyone forgets it ever happened.

The most recent controversy is taking place in Europe, and it concerns Facebook's use of facial recognition technology to help categorize and organize member photos. The new feature, which went live in the U.S. in December, was quietly activated for overseas users earlier this month, and it has generated a predictable backlash.

In an interview with The Register, British security expert Graham Cluely clued Facebook in: "Many people feel distinctly uncomfortable about a site like Facebook learning what they look like, and using that information without their permission."

Cluely also drew Facebook's attention, for what must be the millionth time, to the fact that its security settings are kind of obscure: "Most Facebook users still don't know how to set their privacy options safely, finding the whole system confusing. It's even harder though to keep control when Facebook changes the settings without your knowledge." He concluded: "The onus should not be on Facebook users having to 'opt-out' of the facial recognition feature, but instead on users having to ‘opt-in'."

Amen! Of course, the unfortunate fact is that Facebook counts on its users' ignorance and apathy (and probably leaves its security settings a bit byzantine) in order to get traction for its new services. But even if the company isn't really concerned about user privacy, there are better ways to go about introducing new capabilities like the facial recognition and tagging feature.

Facebook could dispel some of the criticism with a more transparent approach -- and without necessarily having to make the new service opt-in. For example, how about simply sending a clearly labeled message to all users advising them of the new feature and including a link to opt out?