Technology improves every single day and Facebook proves just that with their latest algorithm that allows facial recognition even when a person's face is not fully visible.

Recent face-recognition algorithms have been so improved that even shops, social networking sites and even churches have started to use them. And Facebook takes this technology to another level by developing an algorithm that can identify a person even when a photograph does not fully show the face. This experimental algorithm does it by identifying other unique characteristics of the person like body shape, posing, clothing, and hairstyle.

Facebook's head of artificial intelligence, Yann LeCun, said that they wanted to simulate a person's perfect ability to recognize certain people through cues other than the face. He explained that each person has characteristics and aspects that are recognizable even from the back. He cites Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg as an example, who can be easily pinpointed in a crowd because of his gray shirt.

In the experiment, the research team gathered 40,000 public photos from Flickr and posted them on a 'sophisticated neural network'. The result? People were identified and the algorithm reached an accuracy of 83 percent. This was presented at the Boston, Massachusetts Conference Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition earlier this month.

What does this improved algorithm mean for Facebook users? For one, it will do wonders in improving photo apps, which will allow users to make the most of them, especially with the recently-launched, Facebook Moments. Also, as LeCun pointed out, the new feature will help a user become more aware if ever an unwanted photo of him or herself starts circulating on the Internet.

However, according to NewScientist, Carnegie Mellon University's Ralph Gross, pointed out some privacy implications if this new algorithm is integrated into the networking site. Though he acknowledged that it is impressige, he also said, "If, even when you hide your face, you can be successfully linked to your identity, that will certainly concern people. Now is a time when it's important to discuss these questions."