Facebook is testing facial recognition on Facebook Messenger. Here’s how it should work
Facial recognition is an increasingly popular feature in smartphones: it allows you to unlock your phone by placing your face in front of the screen. It is a biometric recognition system, that is, it takes into account unique characteristics of the body and uses them as an unlock key.
Another similar functionality is exploited using fingerprints. Thus, it is a secure and very innovative technology. These peculiarities have also conquered the CEO of Facebook who, according to some rumors, would like to introduce facial recognition on Messenger, the messaging app connected to the social network. The goal would be to minimize the risks related to privacy: the user positioning his face in front of the home screen would be the only one who can unlock the chat. This method is a further guarantee that the Menlo Park company wants to offer its users.
Facebook Messenger: is facial recognition really effective?
After being involved in several privacy scandals, Facebook is working hard to regain credibility and increase the level of security of its channels. One of the latest maneuvers is designed to protect Messenger chats from prying eyes by using one’s face. While the password can be hacked, it is more difficult for a person to gain access by exploiting the features of the face.
The feature could be very useful, however it is not really effective unless other security maneuvers such as two-factor authentication are leveraged. Also, Messenger is not protected by end-to-end encryption, as it is on WhatsApp, so users’ personal data could be stolen at any time by professional hackers.
How will facial recognition work on Messenger?
The feature was discovered by developer and leaker Jane Manchun Wong who found the code inside the Android app. It’s sloppy work, so it’s thought to still be in its infancy and it’s not certain that it will be confirmed by the company. The expert released some screenshots showing how Messenger’s Face ID works: first of all, users can access the section from Settings and here decide to enable it by selecting the appropriate entry.
Furthermore, the published text suggests that facial recognition details will not be stored on Facebook’s servers and this will ensure privacy protection. It’s still unclear if this feature will ever see the light of day, if it will be enabled only for Android or also for Apple, however it would be a truly exclusive novelty capable of influencing the future of apps.