Why is Facebook looking for nude photos from users?

byEduardo Woo

As a new project by Facebook, we have begun initiating efforts to "send nude photos to ourselves using Messenger". At first glance it is a very surprising effort, but from around it attention is gaining as "an epoch - making mechanism".

Revenge porn: Facebook teaming up with Government to stop nude photos ending up on Messenger, Instagram - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-02/facebook-offers-revenge-porn-solution/9112420


Facebook asks users for nude photos in project to combat revenge porn | Technology | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/07/facebook-revenge-porn-nude-photos


The objective of Facebook's new project is "Revenge pornTo eradicate. Revenge pornography which spreads the partner's naked photos and videos through the Internet as a divorce former spouse or partner is revenge has become a big problem. Based on users' nude photos, Facebook has the function of blocking when images similar to the picture are uploaded and shared, with the Australian government organization "e-safety commissionerWe are in the process of being tested in cooperation with. Julia Inman Grant of eSafety says, "This is what makes victims of" image based abuse "take action before pictures are uploaded to Facebook, Instagram, Messenger."

In a scheme under which Facebook is testing, the user first enters the online form on the e-safety commissioner. After that, when a user sends a picture that is concerned about revenge pornography to "me" using Messenger, a notification is sent to the Facebook from the e-safety commissioner. When Facebook receives a notification, the community's Operational Analyst accesses the photoHashingto hold. When someone else tried uploading a photo, the hashed photosFingerprintAnd hash values ​​match, the picture can not be uploaded or shared.

byian dooley

Facebook holds these photos for a short period of time, it is deleted immediately by policy and there is no worry that hackers will access photos.

In April 2017, Facebook also used a photo matching system and introduced a mechanism in the US that prohibits uploading and sharing newly uploaded and shared pictures that were reported as revenge porn in the past. In addition, methods that combine image hashing and matching technology have been adopted by companies other than Facebook, and it is being used not only for revenge pornography but also for prevention of child abuse.

The above technology was originally developed in 2009 by Microsoft at Dartmouth University and a missing personCenter for exploited childrenDeveloped in cooperation with. It aimed at preventing child porn image from being uploaded on the Internet repeatedly over the Internet.

byBlake Meyer

Originally, this technique was a problem that it was possible to re-upload photos simply by changing the size of the image or slightly modifying the file, so incorporating the technique of hashing the image makes it possible for the uploader Even if the photos are modified, we do not allow sharing by matching.

Although Facebook's starting mechanism is that it can not prevent photo sharing and uploading outside the Facebook ecosystem, not only victims of actual revenge porn, but also "they can not spread naked photos It is appreciated that it worked on the problem of "a person who could become a victim" who worried about "being a victim".

Besides e-safety commissioner, Facebook publicity is also looking for partners and governments to cooperate with efforts.