CALIFORNIA – Social networking giant Facebook is asking its users to send their nude photographs so that they could block the images if they are later uploaded as revenge porn.
Facebook can now digitally ‘hash’ the media; this means that the company converts the image into a unique digital fingerprint that can be used to identify and block any attempts to re-upload that same image.
The company is trialling the technology in Australia in partnership with the office of government.
Revenge porn is a growing issue in Australia, according to e-safety commissioner Julie Inman Grant, who is working with Facebook on the trial.
“It would be like sending yourself your image in email, but obviously this is a much safer, secure end-to-end way of sending the image without sending it through the ether,”
“They’re not storing the image, they’re storing the link and using artificial intelligence and other photo-matching technologies.
“So if somebody tried to upload that same image, which would have the same digital footprint or hash value, it will be prevented from being uploaded.”
Australian users are being encouraged to alert the eSafety Commissioner about the image they’re concerned about by completing a form on her website and send it to themselves on Messenger.
“This is an initial pilot in Australia. We look forward to getting feedback and learning,” a Facebook spokesman said.
