Security News > 2020 > July > New technique keeps your online photos safe from facial recognition algorithms

Today, Facebook and Instagram can automatically tag a user in photos, while Google Photos can group one's photos together via the people present in those photos using Google's own image recognition technology.

Led by Professor Mohan Kankanhalli, Dean of the School of Computing at the National University of Singapore, the research team from the School's Department of Computer Science has developed a technique that safeguards sensitive information in photos by making subtle changes that are almost imperceptible to humans but render selected features undetectable by known algorithms.

Using this "Human sensitivity map" the team fine-tuned their technique to apply visual distortion with minimal disruption to the image aesthetics by injecting them into areas with low human sensitivity.

"It is too late to stop people from posting photos on social media in the interest of digital privacy. However, the reliance on AI is something we can target as the threat from human stalkers pales in comparison to the might of machines. Our solution enables the best of both worlds as users can still post their photos online safe from the prying eye of an algorithm," said Prof Kankanhalli.

End users can use this technology to help mask vital attributes on their photos before posting them online and there is also the possibility of social media platforms integrating this into their system by default.

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