Facebook and Google are known for their utter disregard for users' privacy right and they generally can be found mirthfully flouting
every existing norm of decency without even a smidgeon of remorse. But now Facebook is venturing into the territory which has been dubbed as too risqué and 'creepy' even by Google. So well done, Facebook, just when we thought things could not get more intrusive.
Facebook is now in the process of rolling out its Face-recognition feature in the Europe and as expected we have some pundits freaking out. The feature is not entirely new as it had been functional since last year in the US. Though, the company's modus operandi for the implementation was about as creepy as the feature itself. Facebook carried out staggered roll-out in order to avoid any virtual mutiny.
However, now that the feature has come to the Europe, the EU data protection regulators have launched a probe to see if the tool violates privacy rights and we cannot blame them for being wary. The tool itself comes with 'opt-out' option, while tools such as this one should clearly be made 'opt-in' instead. Facebook has already received reprimand from French president Nicolas Sarkozy during e-G8 summit and now EU regulators have told Businessweek that they want to "clarify to Facebook that this can't happen like this."
On its part, Facebook is trying to do some damage-control. The company said that the tagging feature had always been there so there is no need to make any fuss about the new tool. But a friend tagging me in the picture is one thing, but Facebook doing it on its own is quite another, don't you think so, Dear Facebook. The social networking site has also claimed that it has not received any complaint from its users.