Back in mid-October, reporter Jake Sturmer from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation interviewed Noelle, a college student who had discovered her photos on several porn sites. As it turns out, her photos were stolen from her Facebook profile and displayed on fake pornagraphic accounts without her knowledge.
We live in a technology age, which means that privacy is hard to keep. Parents are worried about their children’s safety on the internet and whether or not their images are protected. How do we as a society keep our freedom to post videos and images online of others while also staying safe?
We should utilize facial recognition apps and social media flagging.
Facial Recognition Apps
One way of making sure no unwanted photos float around online is through the use of facial recognition apps. Ethan Chiel from fusion.net reports that a Russian app called FindFace has been developed for the purpose of facial tracking in photos. FindFace is a cloud-based system that allows users to create their own database of images in order to track through hundreds of thousands of photos online for their picture.
Imagine if every social media platform had their own version of the app!
Photo Courtesy of the Daily Mail
Social Media Flagging
Some of you may wonder: “If I find unwanted photos of me online, what should I do?”
With the help of the flagging system available on mostly every form of social media, you can report any photo or video containing your image so that the social platform knows that there is a misuse of your photo. The platform’s support team can have the video or image taken down from the site.
In the past, there has been some concern over whether or not Facebook has allowed too many posts to be flagged and removed. Newsline journalist Denny Ruelos stated in response to such concerns that Facebook will be allowing images and videos that may be considered more offensive than those previously allowed in the past as long as the content is “newsworthy or important” to Facebook users.
So basically, Facebook can monitor cyberbullying and identity theft without taking down controversial headline stories.
Photo Courtesy of All Things D
The bottomline is that we are never going to be 100% completely safe online. We are never going to live in a perfect world; one without crime. However, we can find ways to ensure justice without inhibiting freedoms. Your friends and family can post their annual family portrait or holiday photos without having to go through some elaborate process that involves granting permissions for photos or videos. Through the use of facial recognition apps and social media flagging systems, we as a society can monitor posts and protect ourselves on the internet.
At the end of the day, you know you are going to be clicking the “Login” button on Facebook – and you want to be safe while you’re at it.
HC with care,
Megan Hammer
Sources:
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2016/s4555486.htm
http://fusion.net/story/358817/findface-ntechlab-face-recognition-privacy/
https://newsline.com/facebook-soon-to-limit-censorship-allowing-offensive-but-newsworthy-posts/
Photo Sources:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3373207/IntraFace-knows-doing-yo.html