Facebook Messenger wants to see your mobile photos

Facebook Messenger has launched a controversial new feature called Photo Magic. This option uses facial recognition technology to scan your camera roll for photos of you and your friends. For now it is available in Australia, but it should reach the rest of us soon.

Facebook does not want to spy, indeed according to a statement it is doing this for your sake. In fact it claims the new feature is to solve that age old problem of forgetting or not having time to send photos to your friends.

How Photo Magic work?

This feature will analyze your photos to search for familiar faces, comparing the photos you have with photos’ of your friends. When it detects a match between friends and a photos it lets you send the images in group messages from Messenger.

However, the truth is, this is not the first time we used this technology FB. Remember the Moments function? That standalone application that helped use to share photos with friends? Well, this looks a lot like that only with groups.

Don’t want Photo Magic? Here is what to do.

In truth the idea is okay, but I feel somewhat uncomfortable thinking that an app is automatically “seeing” what’s on my camera roll, even if it isn’t keeping a record of what it is seeing.

Luckily, if you feel the same, you can always turn it off. To do this go to your profile where you can disable the service – once it is available in your country.