Agency agrees with opt-in policy

A German government agency that oversees privacy issues has reportedly approved Google's implementation of facial recognition technology. Although the same agency has warned that it will take action against Facebook for using similar technology, the regulators are said to be less concerned with Google's opt-in approach.

“At least it seems that users of Google+ have a real choice, and therefore the legal requirements of effective consent seemed to be met,” agency representative Moritz Karg told Investor's Business Daily in a statement.

Google last month introduced the facial recognition feature, which is included in the company's Google+ social network. The system automatically pairs photos with user accounts, potentially taking time out of the photo tagging process. Users must opt-in to allow their photos to be analyzed using the recognition software, unlike Facebook's opt-out approach.

The agency has demanded that Facebook notify users before creating "biometric" profiles.

By Electronista Staff