  A status report on the theory and phenomenology of rare radiative $B$ decays
in the standard model is presented with emphasis on the measured decays $B \to
X_s \gamma$ and $B \to K^* \gamma$. Standard model is in agreement with
experiments though this comparison is not completely quantitative due to
imprecise data and lack of the complete next-to-leading order contributions to
the decay rates. Despite this, it is possible to extract non-perturbative
parameters from the shape of the photon energy spectrum in $B \to X_s \gamma$,
such as the $b$-quark mass and the kinetic energy of the $b$ quark in $B$
hadron. The measured decay rate $\BBGAMAXS =(2.32\pm 0.67) \times 10^{-4}$ can
also be used to extract the CKM ratio $\absvts/\absvcb$, yielding
$\absvts/\absvcb =1.10 \pm 0.43$. Issues bearing on the determination of the
parameters of the CKM matrix from the CKM-suppressed decays $B \to X_d +
\gamma$ and $B \to (\rho,\omega) + \gamma$ are also discussed. It is argued
that valuable and independent constraints on the CKM matrix can be obtained
from the measurements of these decays, in particular those involving neutral
$B$-mesons (to appear in the Proceedings of the XXXth Rencontres de Moriond
``Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories'', Les Arcs, France, March
1995).
