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Microsoft has been experimenting with facial-recognition tech in OneDrive to help you group and search your photos by person, but it's limiting the number of times you can turn it on and off.
As Slashdot reports, the feature is enabled by default for those with early access. If you get it, you'll see an update in the privacy section of the app that says "OneDrive uses AI to recognize faces in your photos." (Its support page still says it's "coming soon.")
"Microsoft collects, uses, and stores facial scans and biometric information from your photos through the OneDrive app for facial grouping technologies," the support page says. "This helps you quickly and easily organize photos of friends and family."
Face groupings are not public, even if you share a photo or album. "Microsoft does not use any of your facial scans and biometric information to train or improve the AI model overall," it says.
When asked why this feature is opt-out, a spokesperson told Slashdot that "Microsoft OneDrive inherits privacy features and settings from Microsoft 365 and SharePoint, where applicable."
One puzzling restriction: Microsoft will only let you toggle the feature on and off three times per year. When Slashdot asked about that, the company declined to comment. However, it does not appear to be brand new. A screenshot shared on Jan. 1 on the Microsoft forums includes the toggle that says, "You can only turn off this setting 3 times a year." So, it seems to be generating attention now that more people are getting access.
On its support page, Microsoft notes that "When you turn off this feature in your OneDrive settings, all facial grouping data will be permanently removed within 30 days." So, it likely doesn't want to devote server power to deleting facial grouping data over and over.
Google Photos has had a similar feature, known as Face Grouping, since 2015, which works for both people and animals. And it does not have a limit on how many times you can turn it on or off. Apple Photos can also identify people and pets.
To see if you're part of the preview on OneDrive, head to Settings > Privacy and permissions. You’ll find a section called Features, which then opens with an option called People section. Toggle this off, and it won’t use its AI to monitor your photos anymore.
Microsoft Photos previously had a face-grouping feature, but that was removed earlier this year.