Facebook has just updated its privacy policy – if you're one of the social network's 1 billion users you would have received an email about it.

If you didn't get around to reading the fine print here are the main points you need to know.

Facetime

The biggest change to the policy has been Facebook's stance on user images, specifically their faces.

Facebook will now use face recognition software to scan user's profile pictures. The company explained this is so friends can more easily find and tag pictures of each other on Facebook.

“We are able to suggest that your friend tag you in a picture by scanning and comparing your friend's pictures to information we've put together from your profile pictures and the other photos in which you've been tagged,” the new policy explains.

Previously, Facebook has simply scanned other photos users were tagged in, not their profile photo.

Smile you're on camera

The update will give Facebook a more detailed snapshot into how users are interacting with one another – data that's increasingly valuable when delivering targeted ads. 

Yet users are traditionally cautious about changes to privacy policies, especially those that relate to images.

In 2012 Facebook-owned Instagram was forced to revoke changes it made that allowed the platform to share user images with advertisers.

Opt out option

Facebook's new tagging feature is automatically turned on. To turn it off go into the settings menu and select “Timeline and Tagging.”

From there under the “Who sees tag suggestions when photos that look like you are uploaded?” switch from “friends” to no one.”

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