Meta uses face recognition technology to identify you in photos and videos posted by others, but only if you have turned this feature on — it claims this requires your permission.
This analysis describes what Meta's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
The provision establishes the operational scope of face recognition processing within Meta's service ecosystem. It conditions the deployment of this biometric processing mechanism on explicit user permission and specifies three distinct functional applications within the platform.
If you have face recognition enabled on Facebook, Meta processes your biometric facial geometry — a uniquely sensitive data type — to identify your face in photos and videos uploaded by other users, creating enforcement exposure under Illinois BIPA and GDPR Art. 9.
How other platforms handle this
We will only collect, use and disclose your personal data with your consent, unless otherwise permitted or required by law. Your consent may be given expressly or implied, depending on the circumstances and the sensitivity of the information involved.
You may give us your Identity Data, Contact Data, Financial Data, Profile Data, and other information by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, e-mail or otherwise.
telemetry information collected includes: (i) microservice settings, (ii) usage data and (iii) hardware environment.
"Face recognition technology: If you have it turned on, we use face recognition technology to recognize you in photos, videos and camera experiences. We use this technology to suggest that your friends tag you in photos or videos and to give you control of photos and videos where you've been recognized. We also use it for safety purposes, such as helping people identify photos of themselves that others post on our Products. We use this technology only when we have your permission to do so.Excerpt from Meta's Privacy Policy
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: Biometric data processing implicates GDPR Art.
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Google's Privacy Policy covers Search, Gmail, YouTube, Maps, and every site running Google Analytics. Here is what it actually authorizes.
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The provision establishes the operational scope of face recognition processing within Meta's service ecosystem. It conditions the deployment of this biometric processing mechanism on explicit user permission and specifies three distinct functional applications within the platform.
If you have face recognition enabled on Facebook, Meta processes your biometric facial geometry — a uniquely sensitive data type — to identify your face in photos and videos uploaded by other users, creating enforcement exposure under Illinois BIPA and GDPR Art. 9.
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 296 platforms. See the full comparison.
No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Meta.