01/23/2019

Facebook's 10-year Challenge Is Just A Harmless Meme, Right?

Some say it's an attempt to improve facial recognition software

If you use social media, you've probably noticed a trend across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter of people posting their then-and-now profile pictures, mostly from 10 years ago and this year.

Instead of joining in, I posted the following semi-sarcastic tweet about using these images to mine data for age progression software. 

My flippant tweet began to pick up traction. My intent wasn't to claim that the meme is inherently dangerous. But I knew the facial recognition scenario was broadly plausible and indicative of a trend that people should be aware of. It’s worth considering the depth and breadth of the personal data we share without reservations.

Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.