Privacy Concerns over Latest Facebook Buy

Facebook has acquired Israeli facial recognition technology firm Face.com in a cash and stock deal reportedly valued between $55m and $60m - and immediately prompted a response from a number of privacy groups.

Consumers can use Face.com's KLiK service to automatically identify and tag their own and their friends' pictures on Facebook. The tool can then scan a user's photos, compare faces with previous pictures, and then match faces and recommend name tags. When a match is found, Facebook alerts the person uploading the photos, and invites them to tag the person in the photo.

The company also provides software for facial 'detection', which is distinct from facial recognition in that it reveals information about the gender, mood, and even age of subjects in a photo without disclosing actual identities.

Following news of the acquisition, privacy groups have raised concerns. UK-based Privacy International's Head of Communications Emma Draper told the BBC: 'We would hope to see very strict safeguards on how this information is stored and who has access to it, particularly if - as seems increasingly likely - Facebook is going to start making money from it.'

Last year, Facebook responded to opposition from US and European privacy campaigners by making it easier for users to opt out of its own facial recognition technology for photographs posted on its site.

Graham Cluley from Internet security firm Sophos told Sky News that privacy concerns are ongoing: 'Many people feel distinctly uncomfortable about a site like Facebook learning what they look like, and using that information without their permission. The onus should not be on Facebook users having to 'opt-out' of facial recognition, but instead on users having to 'opt-in'.

Web sites. www.facebook.com and www.face.com .