It has recently been reported that facial recognition can reveal more than just your name.  Your private data, including your social security number, may be accessible with the use of facial recognition software along with information that can be found on Facebook.

Your social security number is not just a random number, and if someone knows what state you were born in they can automatically figure out at least 2 digits of your social security number.  And since Facebook also has other information like your birthdate and the names of your family members, your private data is more accessible than ever before in the history of the internet.

There has been an outcry among privacy rights activists since facial recognition has become a major project for both Facebook and Google.  These two companies alone control much of the internet and are the two most visited websites in all the world.  But not only are they popular websites, they also know more about you than you may think.  For years, Google has been collecting information about you like what you search for in the search engine, where you live, and what interests you.  They use this information to show you targeted banner ads that you are more likely to click on, but many think that they know a little too much about us.

The main problem with Facebook using facial recognition technology is that they have been collecting data for this technology for years without us even knowing about it.  They have been analyzing our profile pictures and gathering information so that when they roll out their automatic tagging of pictures with facial recognition it will work seamlessly.  Only until recently have they made this information public, and with so many people up in arms over it, you can see why they waited so long.

But is this technology just another great advancement in the 21^st century or is it really dangerous?

Let’s see how someone can use this technology for evil to help us understand what is at stake here.  Say you are at the mall and a perfect stranger wants to know who you are.  They can take a picture of you with their phone without you even knowing about it and then find out your name and see your profile on Facebook and see who you are related to as well.  And with a little bit of snooping around they can tap into your private data, exposing you to identity theft.

Facebook has said that their auto-tagging feature will utilize facial recognition technology to make life easier for you, so you don’t have to tag each picture you upload.  But anything that makes our lives easier on the internet, also makes us more vulnerable.  This is why that with more technology than ever on the planet, identity theft crimes are only going up, and it just underscores the need for some sort of identity theft protection.

You can find comparisons of the best identity theft protection services at www.Safeidentityprotection.com, where Jon writes helpful tips for keeping your ID safe and compares services with articles like Lifelock reviews.