Research and Markets – Facebook Launches Modified Moments App in Europe

DUBLIN, May 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ —

Facebook launched a new version of its photo-sharing app Moments in Europe on Tuesday, almost a year after the facial-recognition powered app was released in the U.S. However, the new version has been modified and is without the facial-recognition feature due to longstanding legal issues regarding European privacy regulations. The global facial recognition market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 23.74% by 2020, according to a recent report available from Research and Markets, but this growth could be lower if Europe continues to challenge the legality of such technology.  

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Launched last June in the United States, Facebook’s Moments app groups pictures together by event and uses facial recognition to identify the subjects of each photo. Once done, users can share their pictures with others who attended the same event, enabling all attendees to see every picture they feature in. The facial recognition technology has been removed from the European version of Moments due to a challenge from the Irish Data Protection Commissioner over the legality of such technology in the European Union. The modified version requires users to manually tag friends in pictures.

The European Union’s decision to limit the use of facial recognition could influence other markets, as it’s likely that the concerned parties will take issue with related technology. The global image recognition market is forecast to be worth USD 29.98 billion by 2020, as noted in a recent report, but technology providers may find the market to be more guarded than expected.

It could also stimulate growth in markets like the global data protection as a service market, which is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 57.03% by 2019 as forecast in an industry report. The rise of invasive technology like facial recognition will likely encourage more people to protect themselves online and in the real world. 

For further information on this topic, and a full list of all related documentation, please visit the Biometrics section at https://www.researchandmarkets.com/rm/OLJN.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/may/11/facebook-moments-facial-recognition-app-europe

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