On Thursday Facebook proposed changes to two of its legal documents, changing the wording of how it deals with data obtained from facial recognition technology.  The wording of this very area had previous brought the attention of European regulators, who requested more specifics as exactly how this data would be used.  In response, the folks at Facebook deleted all facial recognition data on file from all of its European members.  

The inclusion of its intent to use this data came as a surprise to German privacy regulators when it was announced in the German version of the altered policy on Thursday, as it would imply that Facebook would again be gathering the data, without satisfying the demands of the European regulators as to the nature of its use.  While Jodi Seth, manager of public policy and communications for the social networking giant, has said that facial recognition features are not currently being implanted in Europe, the new policy seems contradictory.

The changes that brought all of this unwanted attention in Europe state that Facebook will be allowed to utilize its user’s profile pictures when deciding whom your friends should tag in their photos.  Seems harmless enough, but the intent behind the questioning was to get Facebook to lay out the exact intent and limitations of the usage of this data.  

Read the proposed changes for yourself.

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