How to stop Facebook from auto-tagging you in photos (FB)

May 06, 2016 at 17:33 PM EDT

Martin Hunter / Stringer / Getty Image

Facebook is in hot water in Illinois, after a judge ruled that a group of users has the right to file a complaint against the social network centering on its practice of storing biometric data about their faces.

The issue targets Facebook's "tag suggestions," which help people automatically tag their friends in photos based on data the site has stored to recognize their faces.

I saw the feature at work firsthand when I recently uploaded nearly 200 photos to an album and Facebook accurately tagged the people in almost every one.

I had the option to ignore the tag suggestions, but that would have involved going through all of the photos.

Plaintiffs in Illinois say the tool violates user privacy, since Facebook compiles the biometric data without their explicit consent.

However, it is possible to opt out of the suggested tagging.

Here's how:

First navigate to settings, and then click the "Timeline and Tagging" category:

Then scroll down to the category about tag suggestions:

Switch from "friends" to "no one":

According to Facebook's Help Center, here's how it recognizes you:

Information about photos you’re tagged in. When you’re tagged in a photo, or make a photo your profile picture, we associate the tags with your account, compare what these photos have in common and store a summary of this comparison. If you’ve never been tagged in a photo on Facebook or have untagged yourself in all photos of you on Facebook, then we do not have this summary information for you.
Comparing your new photos to stored info about photos you’re tagged in. We are able to suggest that your friend tag you in a photo by scanning and comparing your friend's photos to information we've put together from your profile pictures and the other photos in which you've been tagged.

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