It cited societal concerns and regulatory uncertainty aboutfacial recognitiontechnology as the reasons.
The technology is prone to mistakes involving people of color.
In 2019, San Francisco was the first city toban government use of the technology.
Others, includingJackson, Mississippi; Portland, Oregon; andBoston,CambridgeandSpringfield, Massachusetts, have followed.
Over the summer, Maine enacted one of the moststringent banson the technology.
The feature generates suggested tags by using scans of previously uploaded photos to match people in newly uploaded shots.
Facebook has also considered building facial recognition in products such as itssmart glasses.
But the company’s employees raised concerns that the technology could be abused by “stalkers.”
Facebook’s first pair of smart glasses, theRay-Ban Stories, doesn’t include facial recognition technology.
Privacy and civil rights groups applauded Facebook’s move on Tuesday.
“This is a good start toward ending dangerous uses of facial recognition technology.
Now it’s time for enforceable rules that prohibit companies from scanning our faces without our consent.
Looking at you, Congress,” the American Civil Liberties Union said in atweet.
