Meta to Revive Facial Recognition to Combat "Celeb Bait" Scams

Three years after shutting down its facial recognition software due to privacy concerns, Meta is reactivating the technology to combat "celeb bait" scams on Facebook. The company plans to enroll 50,000 public figures in a trial that will compare their profile pictures with images used in suspected scam advertisements. If a match is found and Meta deems the ad fraudulent, it will be blocked.

Celebrities will be notified of their enrollment and given the option to opt out. The trial, set to begin globally in December, will exclude regions where Meta lacks regulatory clearance, including the UK, EU, South Korea, Texas, and Illinois.

Monika Bickert, Meta's vice president of content policy, emphasized that the company is targeting public figures whose likenesses have been identified in scam ads. "The idea here is: roll out as much protection as we can for them. They can opt out of it if they want to, but we want to be able to make this protection available to them and easy for them," Bickert said in a press briefing.

This move reflects Meta's attempt to balance the use of potentially invasive technology with addressing regulatory concerns about rising scams and user data privacy. In 2021, Meta deleted the face scan data of one billion users and shut down its facial recognition system due to "growing societal concerns." This decision followed a $1.4 billion settlement Meta paid to Texas in August 2024 to resolve a lawsuit accusing the company of illegally collecting biometric data.

Despite these concerns, Meta is facing lawsuits alleging that it hasn't done enough to curb celeb bait scams, which often utilize AI-generated images of celebrities to deceive users into participating in fraudulent investment schemes.

To address privacy concerns, Meta stated that any face data generated by comparisons with suspected advertisements will be immediately deleted, regardless of whether a scam is detected. The company also confirmed that the tool underwent internal "robust privacy and risk review process" and was discussed with external regulators, policymakers, and privacy experts before testing commenced.

Furthermore, Meta plans to test facial recognition technology to enable non-celebrity users of Facebook and Instagram to regain access to accounts compromised by hackers or locked due to forgotten passwords.