There's a new creepy facial recognition iPhone app that lets users match photos of strangers with their Facebook profile. The app is called Facezam and was created by a British entrepreneur named Jack Kenyon.
The Upcoming iPhone App
According to an article at Independent, Facezam is an app capable of tracking anyone down on Facebook just by analyzing a picture of their face. Furthermore, the facial recognition app was tested on 10,000 images that work with 70 percent accuracy and can link an image to a Facebook account within seconds.
However, there is a catch. Apparently, that figure drops to 55 percent when a person's face is positioned at an angle or partly covered by sunglasses, hair or a hat. As for when the Facezam will be released, reports claim that it will be released on iOS this coming March 21.
How To Use It?
First, you have to take a photo of someone then run the image through the app. After waiting for the app to scan millions of Facebook profiles in a matter of seconds, the result will show - that is if it's successful.
Facezam's Future Uncertain
Facebook has confirmed that the Facezam is violating its privacy policy, making the expected March 21 release date uncertain. According to Facebook, "This activity violates our terms and we're reaching out to the developer to ensure they bring their app to compliance."
However, Kenyon seems to believe that they have not violated any privacy policy at all and stated that they have looked into the issue and is confident that the facial recognition app won't be violating Facebook's terms.
Just this week, Facebook and Instagram have finally decided to ban developers from using people's posts to spy on them. This was implemented following the sustained criticism from civil liberties groups. Furthermore, Facebook said that by doing so, it was making its policy explicit and has already begun taking action against developers who created or marketed tools meant to be used as surveillance.
