Windows 10 makes use of Face Detection and Recognition technology in Windows Hello login and the Photos App. If you do not want to use this feature, you can Disable Face Detection, both in Windows Hello and Photos App.
Disable Face Detection in Windows 10
The purpose of incorporating Face Recognition technology and Biometric sensing in Windows 10 is to allow users to login to the computer using Face ID, Fingerprint and Iris scanning.
In case of Photos App, Face Detection technology is used to identify people appearing in Photos stored on your computer and put them together in groups for your convenience.
According to Microsoft, the process of Face Detection in Photos App happens right on your device and all the Face Detection Data can be erased by disabling the “People” setting in Photos App.
1. Disable Face Detection in Photos App
If you do not want the Photos App to use Face Detection to recognize people, you can easily disable this feature by going to Photos App Settings on your computer.
Open Photos App > click on 3 Dots Menu icon and select Settings in the drop-down menu.
On the Settings screen, scroll down to “Viewing and Editing” section and move the People setting to Off position.
After this, you will no longer find the Photos App using Face Detection to identify and group people in Photos.
If you happen to change your mind, you can Enable Face Detection and Recognition back on your computer by repeating the steps above and moving the People toggle to ON position.
2. Disable Face Recognition in Windows Hello Login
Windows Hello provides the option to login using Face ID. If you are not impressed or do not want to use Face ID, you can easily disable this feature by going Sign-in Options page.
Go to Settings > Accounts > Select Sign-in options in the left-pane. In the right-pane, select Face Recognition and click on Remove.
3. Disable Biometric Devices Using Device Manager
You can totally disable Face Recognition, Fingerprint and Iris scanning in Windows 10 by using Device Manager.
Right-click on the Start button and select Device Manager > On Device Manager screen, right-click on Biometric Devices and select the Disable option.
After this all Biometric scanning options should be disabled on your computer.
4. Disable Biometrics Using Registry Editor
Another way to totally disable Face Detection, Fingerprint and Iris scanning in Window 10 is by using Registry Editor.
Open Run Command > type regedit and press the Enter key on the keyboard of your computer.
On Registry Editor screen, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Biometrics. If Biometrics key is not available, right-click in the left-pane, select New > Key and name the New Key as Biometrics.
Select the newly created Biometrics Key > In the right-pane, right-click and select New >DWORD 32-bit value and name the new DEWORD as “Enabled”.
Double-click on the newly created Enabled DWORD and make sure its Data Value is 0.
This will disable all kinds of Biometric sensing on your computer including Face Detection, Fingerprint and Iris scan.
