Facebook suspended its facial-recognition tool that had violated privacy rules in Europe and was on the verge of being sued.
The tool automatically identifies a person in a photo and prompts their tagging in social networking site.
Last year, the Data Protection Commissioner of Ireland recommended that Facebook implement privacy protection for its users outside the U.S. The company has decided that it will switch off the "tag suggestion" feature for users in Europe by Oct. 15. The company also said they will delete picture database that holds millions of pictures uploaded in Europe alone, the New York Times reported.
Pictures have been Facebook's most vital assets and photo tagging is important for Facebook because it lets the company to analyze who the user interacts with in the real world.
The impact of this move can be wide, questioning the use of facial recognition technology that is increasingly used in surveillance cameras.
"This is a big deal. The development of these tools in the private sector directly affects civil liberties, Chris Hoofnagle, a law professor at the University of California, told the New York Times. "The ultimate application is going to be - can we apply these patterns in video surveillance to automatically identify people for security purposes and maybe for marketing purposes as well,"
Facebook avoided being fined and facing legal action in Ireland by this move. The social networking company is avoided the threat of legal action from Germany over the same technology.
But Facebook is dedicated to bringing back the feature after all the necessary steps are taken to toe the line of the European Union's privacy laws.
"We will continue to work together to ensure we remain compliant with European data protection law," the company told reporters.
