Facebook's Push for Facial Recognition Prompts Privacy Alarms

The complaints add to the barrage of criticism facing the Silicon Valley giant over its handling of users' personal details. Several American government agencies are currently investigating Facebook's response to the harvesting of its users' data by Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm. Facebook's push to spread facial recognition also puts the company at the center of a broader and intensifying debate about how the powerful technology should be handled. The technology can be used to remotely identify people by name without their knowledge or consent. While proponents view it as a high-tech tool to catch criminals, civil liberties experts warn it could enable a mass surveillance system.