Google denies working on facial-recognition app !!
Google says it's not working on an application that would
allow users to identify others by snapping a picture of their
face with a cell phone camera.
A report posted by CNN earlier today claimed the company
was at work on such an application, but faced privacy hurdles
in readying it for market. The story contained an interview with
Google's engineering director for image recognition development,
Harmut Neven, which CNET has confirmed was genuine.
CNN's original story remains up with no changes.
As for the validity of the idea, which a Google spokesperson
referred to as "speculative," the company already provides an
image-recognition tool called Goggles, which is available both on
the company's Android mobile OS, as well as on Apple's iOS.
It can grab text, and identify products, landmarks, works of art,
book covers, bar codes, all of which can be searched for on Google.
The company has also tied the feature to its translation
service to let users read captured text that's in a foreign language.
Google has also long been involved with facial-recognition efforts,
building the technology into both the software and Web-based
versions of its Picasa photo platform. When toggled by users,
it can go through a library of photos and identify people who
show up in multiple photos. On the Web version of the software,
this is handled entirely through Google's servers.
Earlier this week Google entered a settlement agreement
with the Federal Trade Commission over last year's launch
of its Buzz service, which has lead to the company agreeing to
establish a "comprehensive privacy program." In terms of imaging,
Google had also gotten in hot water with privacy groups when it
rolled out its Street View technology, which provided raw photos
with faces and license plates, two details that were later removed.
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