This is such a ridiculous attitude. Facial recognition in my photo albums is hugely useful. It makes searching for people a breeze. Just because you don't have a need for it does not mean it is "simply not needed".
Facebook does not need to use facial recognition on me and we both know they use it for more than tagging photos. If my phone does it I am asked for permission.
Can I consent to scan my photos if you're in them? I can certainly manually write the names on a physical photo of the people in the photo. That used to be a fairly common practice before digital.