Gadgets and gizmos

If rumours are true then the arduous task of tagging photos on Facebook may be a thing of the past. A brand new system is set to be filtered through to US users over the new few weeks that will automate the whole process by identifying an individual’s face and using that data to tag other photos, so basically facial recognition of photographs.  

The new addition was explained by Facebook “When you or a friend upload new photos, we use face recognition software — similar to that found in many photo editing tools — to match your new photos to other photos you’re tagged in. We group similar photos together and, whenever possible, suggest the name of the friend in the photos.”

The one important question that many people will have is ‘can I opt out of it?’ In short, yes you can. So if you don’t want your pictures to be part of the tag suggestions you can simply visit your privacy settings and switch it off. This won’t stop people manually tagging photos of you but will stop mass ‘auto tagging’.

Facebook has yet to release any details on when this technology will come to the UK and the rest of the world.

Do you like the sound of ‘tag suggestions’ or are you glad users can opt out if they so wish?