Face.com Purchased By Facebook

Facebook has made the decision to purchase Face.com, an Israeli facial recognition firm.  Face.com comes with existing software that allows member’s of Facebook the ability to identify and tag photos.

Although the exact details of the deal have not been made public, rumors estimate the purchase to be worth between $55-60 million.

Acquiring Face.com adds their 11 person team to that of Facebook’s.  Face.com is located on Rothschild Boulevard, commonly referred to as “Silicon Boulevard”, in the center of Tel Aviv.

One of Facebook’s appeals is the ability to tag someone else’s photos.  But concerns have been raised by privacy advocates as to using this type of technology.  Face.com helps with this dilemma by allowing individuals to not only tag photos with a simple click of the mouse, but photos can also be scanned and uploaded, as well.

Facebook has announced that the purchase will not change the social media giant’s current way that they detect and recognize photos on their network.

A spokesperson for Facebook released a statement which talked about the acquisition:

“People who use Facebook enjoy sharing photos and memories with their friends, and Face.com’s technology has helped to provide the best photo experience.  This transaction simply brings a world-class team and a long-time technology vendor in-house.”

Despite reassurances from Facebook, some experts are still concerned about utilizing this type of technology.