Facebook Turns Off Facial Recognition In The EU, Gets The All-Clear On Several Points From Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner On Its Review

The ongoing investigation into Facebook's transparency on user data and privacy by Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner has come to a positive conclusion for the social network. The DPC, whose decisions had wider-ranging implications for all of Facebook's business in Europe, had made several recommendations earlier in the year to bring Facebook's policies in line with that of data protection regulations in the region. And it has now officially announced that "the great majority of the recommendations have been fully implemented to the satisfaction of this Office." Key to Facebook's success is that it is turning off its facial recognition features, also known as "Tag Suggest": This feature has already been turned off for new users in the EU, the DPC notes, "and templates for existing users will be deleted by 15 October."

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