Facial recognition search engine ``PimEyes'' blocks searches for children's faces

PimEyes, a service that uses facial recognition technology to search for people in photos posted online, has blocked attempts to search for minor subjects due to concerns about children's privacy. I found out that CEO Giorgy Goblonidze explains that this measure is based on PimEyes' basic policy of 'doing no harm.'

Face Search Engine PimEyes Blocks Searches of Children's Faces - The New York Times

PimEyes is a subscription-based service that uses facial recognition technology to search for people in photos. It has a database of approximately 3 billion faces and can process 118,000 searches a day. That's what he said.

PimEyes: Facial recognition search engine and reverse image search

It mainly claims that you can regain your privacy by checking whether unknown photos of yourself have been uploaded online, but Casimir Hill of the major newspaper The New York Times says that users can points out that there is no technical guarantee that the user is only searching for 'self.'

For example, there are cases where parents of children use PimEyes to find photos of their children on the Internet that they did not know about. On the flip side, this can also be said to be at risk of being misused by unrelated people.

The service has been in full swing since 2021, and ``blocking children's face searches'' was on the roadmap from the beginning, but the reason we took the measure seriously was to use AI to block searches for children's faces. Gobronydze said that this was not until October 2023, when an article about threats to children was published in The New York Times, and there had already been inappropriate use of searches for faces of minors. More than 200 accounts have been suspended. Please note that searches by organizations working on children's rights issues are still allowed.

The blocking method uses age detection AI to identify whether the subject of the photo is a minor, but although it was effective when targeting children under 14, It is said that as students become middle and high school students, problems with accuracy arise.

When The New York Times conducted a test using photos of actresses Ashley Olsen and Mary-Kate Olsen, known for their role in the drama 'Full House,' when they were children, searches were blocked for photos in which they looked directly at the camera. Search was possible for photos taken in profile. From this, it has been pointed out that there is a weakness in that it is not possible to identify whether the subject is a minor or not depending on the angle of the subject.