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Connecticut AG challenges Facebook over photo tagging feature that uses facial recognition

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Connecticut’s attorney general does not want Facebook to automatically suggest the names of users in photographs without their permission.

George Jepsen has joined lawmakers and privacy watchdogs in objecting to how Facebook has rolled out the photo-tagging feature, which uses facial recognition technology to identify people.

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He called the lack of an opt-in process ‘troubling’ and said it could expose users to ‘unwelcome attention and loss of privacy.’

Jepsen said he wants to meet with Facebook officials.

Facebook says it has been in touch with Jepsen’s office and will answer any question he has.

The company has been gradually rolling out the feature since December. It points out that any user who does not want the feature can disable it.

‘Millions of people have used it to add hundreds of millions of tags,’ a company spokesman said in a statement. ‘The fact that we’ve had almost no user complaints suggests people are enjoying the feature and are finding it useful.’

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