How to opt-out of Facebook’s automatic facial recognition tagging

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Facebook is finally letting you opt-out of its facial recognition, which the site uses to annoy you with tag suggestions every time you upload an image. New users to the site won’t have to do a thing, as the option will be turned off by default. If you don’t have the setting right now, you’ll get a notification soon that will ask if you want to turn it on (protip: you don’t want to).

This replaces the old Tag Suggestions system, which pestered you, everyone else, and the uploader, to tag people the tool identified with its face matching.

Here’s how to opt-out of Facebook’s facial recognition tagging

You could just wait until Facebook actually sends you a notification to opt-out (or in), but it’s just as easy to go and do it manually so you know it’s done.

• Log into Facebook
• If you’re on desktop, look for the upside-down arrow in the top right, click on it, then go to Settings
• If you’re in the app, the settings menu is at the bottom so scroll down
• Find the Face Recognition section, and navigate to it
  

  Screenshot: KnowTechie

• Click on Edit and pick No (unless you really hate your privacy, then you can opt-in and click Yes)

Now you’ve (hopefully) told Facebook to stop scanning for your face in images uploaded to its site. Since the FTC just made Facebook agree to 20 years of government oversight over the way it rolled out the facial recognition system, this has to be seen as a minor win.

Next up, hopefully, Facebook will give us a way to delete our face from the database they’ve already created.

What do you think? Glad to see Facebook adding this feature or would you prefer it didn’t use any facial recognition ever? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.