Any photos synced using Facebook’s old Photo Sync feature are under threat
Facebook has warned users it will delete all their synced photos unless they download its separate Moments app.
Facebook notified users via an email and a Moments help page that any photos that were synced using Facebook's old Photo Sync feature will be deleted from their servers permanently. Below is a Twitter user who received the email and tweeted their disbelief.
Photo Sync was discontinued in December. It allowed users to automatically upload photos to a private album that could then be shared, edited or deleted. Moments has similar functionality, allowing users to privately share albums and photos with selected friends.
"We wanted to let you know that photos you privately synced from your phone to Facebook will be deleted soon. Earlier this year, they were moved to Moments, a new app by Facebook,” the social network warned.
"If you want to keep your photos, download Moments and log in before July 7. If you don't want Moments, you can also download these photos directly to your computer from your Facebook profile. Otherwise, they'll be deleted."
However, the firm said the move won't affect photos or videos shared on Facebook between friends.
As a result of the warning, the Moments app shot to the top of the Apple App Store in the US.
Launched in June last year in the US, Moments uses facial recognition technology to help keep photos organised and shared with the right people.
The European version of the app, however, does not feature facial-recognition due to tighter privacy laws. A 2011 ruling from data protection regulators in Hamburg stated that Facebook's facial recognition software broke laws around biometric data.
The European version of the app instead asks users to identify faces themselves, before searching more widely for photos that "appear to show the same face".
Slingshot, Facebook's Snapchat competitor, was axed after low adoption. Other apps including Riff, which allowed users to create 'viral videos', and Rooms, a forum app that allowed users to adopt pseudonyms, faced a similar fate. Creative Labs, Facebook's internal group for app development, shut down this year. Get more info...
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