Facebook's facial recognition violates user privacy, watchdog groups plan to tell FTC

Facebook faces the dilemma of losing trust and even users in the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica data leak. Consumer privacy groups are filing a complaint with the FTC that Facebook is violating a privacy decree by failing to get consent from users before it scans their photos to identify them. Already under siege over loose privacy controls and Russian manipulation, Facebook is about to be challenged on another issue: facial recognition. The Electronic Privacy Information Center and several other consumer groups plan Friday to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission asking for an investigation into the network's use of facial recognition technology. Facebook for years has used the technology to help users in tagging photos, but it has failed to gain proper consent for linking biometric markers with individual users, the technology watchdog groups say.