What is Google Face Match?

Facial recognition technology is increasingly seen as a threat to privacy, especially in public places. So what is Google Face Match and is there a problem with Face Match?

Facial recognition technology is increasingly seen as a threat to privacy, especially in public places. But not only when you are outside do you need to worry about facial recognition.

Companies like Google are starting to make smart home devices that use facial recognition technology. Google's device has a feature called Face Match, which is capable of building a user's face model.

So what is Google Face Match and is there a problem with Face Match. Along TipsMake.com find answers through the following article!

What is Google Face Match?

Google Face Match is a feature currently available on Google Nest Hub Max devices. Google has designed these screens to let you control your smart home devices and allow easy access to Google Assistant. It uses Face Match to recognize faces and display personalized content to you or other users.

What is Google Face Match? Picture 1What is Google Face Match? Picture 1
Google Face Match is a feature currently available on Google Nest Hub Max devices

Google makes it clear that Face Match is not a security feature. It's not the same as Apple's Face ID (using your face image to unlock your iPhone) and it's not exactly the same as Facebook's face recognition algorithm (identifying people in photos after they're uploaded) .

Instead, Face Match is a way of identifying device users in real time. The device scans your face to model. In the future, it will be possible to identify you by this model and distinguish you from others. The device can then give you personalized content and ads.

What is wrong with Face Match?

The problem is that Nest Hub Max uses the camera to constantly monitor its surroundings for facial recognition. That means the camera in your device is always on and observing.

This is similar to the privacy risk coming from smart speakers, like Alexa or Amazon Echo devices. These devices have a microphone that is always on, and Nest Hub Max has a camera that always works.

What is Google Face Match? Picture 2What is Google Face Match? Picture 2
Face Match

Another problem is that many people feel uncomfortable about Google holding onto their facial models. Google says that actual face profiles created by the device are not sent to the company's servers. Google says that these profiles only exist on the device.

However, Google also acknowledges that some face data is sent to the cloud to improve the experience. Therefore, you cannot be certain that your face model will not appear on Google's servers.

If you're concerned about privacy, you can disable Google Face Match on your device. Check out the article: How to disable the Google Face Match feature to know how.

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