The Financial Times reports that recent criticisms of Google's privacy policies have forced managers within the search company to reconsider procedures as well as the decision to launch facial recognition software. The idea is said to be the subject of one of the biggest internal debates at the moment and the CEO Eric Schmidt says that any decision regarding facial recognition software would have to be well thought out and discussed at great length.
"Facial recognition is a good example . . . anything we did in that area would be highly, highly planned, discussed and reviewed," FT quotes Schmidt as saying. "When you go through these things, you review your management procedures."
However, Schmidt didn't rule out the possibility, saying, "It is important that we continue to innovate."
Though already present in Google's photo sharing site Picasa, facial recognition technology is not something the company has implemented across other products. Faces in Google Maps are blurred out and though some people go out of their way to be seen by the Google Street View team, others are no where near as happy to be photographed.
