FAcebook discontinues the face recognition function that automatically tags users in photos. As announced by the online network on Tuesday, data stored to identify the faces of more than a billion people will be deleted. There is concern about the use of face recognition technologies in society – regulators are still in the process of developing laws for it, he said, to justify it.

Most recently, users had to give their explicit consent for Facebook friends to automatically show their names in photos. In Europe in particular, the face-recognition online network has faced resistance from data protectionists.

Facebook continues to see possible uses of the technology, for example logging into an account or unlocking a device, it said. With the utmost transparency for the users – the work for this will continue.

With the setting of the function, the names will no longer be displayed in the previous photos, Facebook emphasized. Nothing will change for users who do not activate the function, as there is no need to delete any face recognition data.