Have you ever clicked on an ad featuring a familiar face, only to later discover it was a scam? Scammers are increasingly using 'celeb-bait' ads, leveraging celebrities to mislead people. Meta is now testing facial recognition technology to identify and stop these scams more quickly. Additionally, Meta is exploring how facial recognition can assist in the faster recovery of hacked accounts.
Facial recognition against 'celeb-bait' advertisements
Meta expands tests with facial recognition to block ads that exploit celebrities. These 'celeb-bait' ads use images of well-known figures to entice users to click on fraudulent links. These links often request personal information or money. Meta compares the faces in ads with the profile pictures of celebrities on Facebook and Instagram. In the event of a match, and when it concerns a scam, Meta blocks the ad. The facial data used for this analysis is deleted immediately after the comparison and is not used for any other purpose.
Impact on businesses and users
For users, this technology means better protection against scammers. As a result, advertisements on Facebook and Instagram become more reliable, which strengthens trust in the platform. For advertisers and businesses, this helps protect their credibility against scams that could damage their reputation.
Facial recognition for faster account recovery
In addition to addressing scam advertisements, Meta is also testing facial recognition to restore accounts more quickly. Users can upload a video selfie, which is compared to the profile picture of the hacked account. This offers a faster and simpler way to regain access, compared to the current process that requires a photo of an identification document. Meta guarantees that the video selfies are stored securely and deleted immediately after the comparison.
Testing in the UK and Europe
Although these tests are taking place worldwide, they are not yet available in the United Kingdom or the European Union. These regions have stricter privacy laws, such as the GDPR, which require explicit consent for the use of biometric data. However, Meta continues to engage with policymakers to explore whether this technology can be rolled out in the future, in compliance with applicable legislation.
Meta strengthens approach against scams
Meta takes an important step in the fight against scam advertisements by implementing facial recognition technology. At the same time, this technology offers new opportunities to accelerate account recovery. Although the tests are not yet taking place in Europe and the UK, Meta continues to work on safe and effective solutions without compromising user privacy.