Messenger Kids Face and Hand Effects Privacy Notice

Face and hand effects are augmented reality features that react as people in the scene move, speak and express themselves. They include filters, masks, avatars and other interactive digital experiences. Your child can use these effects in their camera, photos and videos.
You can change your child’s Face and hand effects setting at any time in the Parent Dashboard. If the setting is turned off, your child will still have access to other features.
Information we use to make face and hand effects work
When your child uses face and hand effects, we need to show them in the right place in your child’s camera, photos and videos and make some effects react to your child’s gestures, expressions or movements. For example:
  • If your child uses a cat mask, we need to make sure the ears appear on the top of their head and stay there as they move.
  • If your child uses a filter that changes their eye color, we need to make sure that the tint stays fixed to their eye and doesn’t move onto parts of their skin.
  • If your child is playing an augmented reality game, we need to make sure that their gestures like nods, blinks and hand movements can be used to interact with the characters and menus or make sounds.
  • If your child uses an effect that dramatically zooms in on their face, we need to make sure that their face stays centered in the frame as they move.
To do this, we estimate the location of parts of your child’s face (like their eyes, nose or mouth) and points on their face, eyes or hands. For some effects, we apply these points to a generic model of a face and adjust it to mimic your child’s facial expressions and movements. This information is not used to identify your child.
What we do with this information
We don’t store this information on our servers or share it with third parties. The information may be stored on your child’s device to make repeat experiences work better. If the information is stored on your child’s device, it will be deleted within three years of your child’s last use of the effect it was created for, or when you turn the Face and hand effects setting off, whichever occurs first.
Using face and hand effects with other people
When your child uses face and hand effects, we may process information from images of other people who appear in your child’s camera feed, photo or video.
Additional information for Texas and Illinois residents
If you are a Texas or Illinois resident, you will need to turn on face and hand effects for your child before your child is able to access them. If you have not already chosen to turn on or to keep off face and hand effects for your child, the first time your child tries to use them, you will be asked again to select a setting.
The Face and hand effects setting you select for your child will be saved as follows:
  • You will need to separately turn on effects for each Messenger Kids account that you manage.
  • You can access the Face and hand effects setting in the Parent Dashboard. Changes to settings that control face and hand effects on other Meta products and services will not be reflected in Messenger Kids. Similarly, changes to the Face and hand effects setting in the Parent Dashboard will not be reflected in any Meta products or services except for Messenger Kids.
By turning on effects, you agree that your child will only use effects if all of the people who appear in your child’s camera feed, photo or video also have their Face and hand effects setting turned on, or you are their legally authorized representative and consent to the terms of this notice on their behalf.
Learn how Face and hand effects settings are saved across other Meta products.
How to manage your child's face and hand effects settings on Messenger Kids
To turn your child’s Face and hand effects setting on or off:
  1. From the Facebook app, tap menu.
  2. Tap Messenger Kids. If you don't see it, tap See More... and scroll until you find it.
  3. Tap on your child’s name or photo to view the Parent Dashboard for that account.
  4. Tap Controls.
  5. Tap Tap Face and Hand Effects.
  6. Next to Turn on [name]’s face and hand effects, tap toggle or to turn this setting on or off.
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