Facebook Tackles Face-Recognition Privacy Concern

For instance, iPhoto gives users control over facial recognition by letting them elect whether or not to use the technology with personal photo collections. Facebook's, in contrast, operated independently and was automatically enabled, analysing faces across a swathe of newly uploaded pictures.

The lack of notifications about the wider roll-out of the feature had spurred concerns among privacy advocates, who argue it should be up to users to allow it. A group of organisations had filed a complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission requesting an investigation.

Such a system also raised questions about which personally identifiable information - such as email addresses - could become associated with photos in Facebook's database.

Addressing other concerns, the social network has also streamlined the process for reporting fake accounts or imposters, after Connecticut Representative Kim Rose complained to Jepsen about the difficulty of removing an account that had been falsely labeled as hers and that asked for money.

In response, Facebook has set up a "roadblock" system that freezes accounts reported until they are verified, has made changes to the reporting system, and has speeded up response times, Jepsen said in his statement.

Facebook also has instituted direct links to user contact forms and an automatic email response to help direct users to the correct mechanism when trying to report an imposter or fake profile.

"Although this measure won't totally stop fraudulent pages from being created, it will have a significant impact on reducing the amount of time they are active," the attorney general said.