Facebook is well known for causing controversy when it comes to privacy. Many have criticised the company for the way it handles and stores its users' data, particularly when it comes to the default privacy settings being used and the latest controversy is no different.
It all stems from a new feature Facebook has recently rolled out worldwide - Tag Suggestions. Now when you upload a photograph to the site, Facebook will scan and attempt to suggest which of your friends are visible so that you can tag them more easily. Many people have voiced their concern over the feature, suggesting that it could be misused to identify strangers and some have even suggested that they simply don't like the idea of a website learning what they look like. In reality, the only people that are suggested for tagging are people you are already friends with, but this wasn't made explicitly clear when Facebook rolled out the feature worldwide, despite the fact that it has been available in the US since last year.
The BBC have reported that Facebook has released an official statement apologising for the confusion.
"Tag Suggestions are only made to people when they add new photos to the site, and only friends are suggested. If for any reason someone doesn't want their name to be suggested, they can disable the feature in their privacy settings. We should have been more clear with people during the roll-out process when this became available to them"
Security experts Sophos have been quite vocal about Facebook's haphazard attitude towards privacy and have urged users to update their privacy settings immediately.
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