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Following a review of the service by the Data Protection Commissioner of Ireland last year, the social-networking site has decided to remove its facial recognition feature entirely.
Whilst the recommendations made by Billy Hawkes did not include the removal of the service, he has stated he is encouraged that the firm has decided to have the system removed from Europe by October 15th.
Hawkes stated that Facebook "is sending a clear signal of its wish to demonstrate its commitment to best practice in data protection compliance."
The Data Protection Commissioner issued Facebook with six months to take in consideration and implement the recommendations it offered surrounding the service.
However, Richard Allan, Facebook’s director of policy for Europe, Middle East and Africa, noted that the facial recognition technology was not part of the firm’s commercial activities and generated very little complaints from users.
"The EU has looked at the issue of securing consent for this kind of technology and issued new guidance," Allan told the BBC.
Whilst the facial recognition feature will be removed by October 15th for all users, facial recognition features have already been removed for new users of the site.
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