Facebook tests sharing tool that scans faces in all photos on mobile

Facebook is testing Photo Magic in Australia, which should become part of the Messenger service. The tool scans faces in images from the entire photo gallery and immediately after taking the photo so that the user can share them directly with the recognized friends.

Photo Magic uses the facial recognition techniques that Facebook also uses for photo tagging and its Moments app. Photo Magic scans a user’s photo collection and if faces of friends are detected, the user will receive a notification suggesting to share the image via Messenger as a group thread.

If the user then takes photos showing the friends, he or she will receive a push notification for sharing in the Android app ‘within seconds’, TechCrunch describes. With iOS it would take a little longer due to restrictions from Apple. According to The Independent, all photos are sent to Facebook’s servers for scanning. Most users would have already given Messenger permission to scan their photos the first time they shared an image.

Facebook users could prevent their faces from being recognized through the same privacy option they now have against tagging. Notifications can also be turned off. In any case, Facebook wants to bring the functionality to the US. In Europe, companies are required to provide an opt-in option for these types of facial recognition services, reducing the likelihood that Facebook will release the option here in its current form.