Meta announced today it is expanding its facial recognition technology for account recovery and scam prevention to the United Kingdom, European Union, and South Korea after receiving regulatory approval in these regions.
The expansion includes a new tool designed to detect and block fraudulent advertisements that misuse celebrity images. David Agranovich, Meta’s cyber threats director, confirmed that public figures in Britain and the EU will begin receiving notifications in the coming weeks to opt into the “celeb-bait” protection feature.
The technology works by scanning a public figure’s profile picture and automatically comparing it against faces appearing in suspected fake advertisements. When unauthorized usage is detected, the system automatically blocks the fraudulent content.
This move marks a significant shift from Meta’s 2021 decision to halt facial recognition on its platforms due to privacy concerns. The company reintroduced the technology in October 2024 specifically to combat the rising threat of AI-generated celebrity scams.
Beyond celebrity protection, Meta is also rolling out facial recognition-based account recovery tools for all users in these regions. Users who opt in can verify their identity by recording a short video if they get locked out of their accounts. The company emphasizes that facial data will be deleted immediately after verification and claims the system complies with European data protection regulations.
The expansion comes amid ongoing regulatory scrutiny of Meta’s data practices. The company has faced several significant penalties in recent years, including a €1.2 billion fine from the Irish Data Protection Commission in 2023 for GDPR violations. Additionally, legal challenges in the United States have highlighted persistent concerns about privacy and consent in facial recognition deployment.
Meta states that the new tools have undergone extensive testing in other markets and will be gradually expanded to cover more celebrities and use cases, pending continued regulatory compliance and user feedback.
Sources: ChannelTV, OneTrust, SecurityAffairs
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March 5, 2025 – by Ali Nassar-Smith
