Facebook Photo App Unavailable In Europe

(RTTNews) - Social network Facebook, Inc.'s (FB) latest photo-sharing app Moments is currently unavailable in Europe as the App Store or Google Play does not carry the app for download. The app was launched in the U.S earlier in the week.

The unavailability of the app in Europe is said to be tied to regulatory issues faced by Facebook back in 2012 when the social network was pressured by European data authorities to remove its "tag suggest" facial recognition feature from Facebook due to privacy issues.

Facebook rolled out the facial recognition technology to identify people in photos in 2010. The technology has not gone down well with European and Canadian regulators since then.

The moments app works by scanning the users camera roll and picking out the faces of their Facebook friends. As the facial recognition feature was removed in 2012, the moments app will be useless and will not work in the region.

The European regulators are still unwilling to change their stance. Facebook reportedly said the app can be introduced for Europe only after it reaches a deal with Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner.

Regulators are pushing Facebook to provide an opt-in choice to users. However, Facebook currently does not provide the option, and does not have a timeline for implementing the feature.