Image via Adobe Stock
Signal announces new face blurring tool
“One immediate thing seems clear: 2020 is a pretty good year to cover your face.”
Image via Adobe Stock
Signal, the encrypted messaging app, has announced a new face blurring tool that will be incorporated into the latest Android and iOS versions of the software.
SIGNAL ADDS ANOTHER LAYER OF SECURITY
Users sharing pictures through the app will be able to quickly blur faces, adding another layer of privacy to pictures, though not necessarily hiding the subject’s identity completely.
In a blog post announcing the update, Signal co-founder Moxie Marlinspike linked the update to the worldwide protests against racism and police violence sparked by the killing of George Floyd by law enforcement. These protests have led to record downloads for Signal which uses end to end encryption to make messages harder to intercept.
“We’ve also been working to figure out additional ways we can support everyone in the street right now. One immediate thing seems clear: 2020 is a pretty good year to cover your face,” Marlinspike said.
HOW DOES THE BLUR FEATURE WORK?
When you take a picture through Signal and select the blur option in the toolbar, the app will automatically detect any faces it spots in your image. If it misses any, users can simply blur out faces by hand or blur any other features they want to hide. All processing is done on the device meaning uncensored images never leave the user’s phone.
BLURRING FACES IS NOT FOOLPROOF TO HIDE YOUR IDENTITY
Although blurring faces in photographs certainly makes pictures more private, it’s by no means a foolproof way of anonymising images and hiding someone’s identity. Some blurring and pixellation methods can be reversed with the right tools. Anyone seeking to identify someone in a picture can work from other information such as clothing and tattoos which can be compared with other unblurred images.
THE BEST WAY TO OBSCURE YOUR IDENTITY IS TO WEAR A MASK
In the event attendees at a protest hide the identity of fellow protestors, that does not mean other groups and individuals will do the same. Surveillance cameras, police body cameras, and press photographers are all capturing images. Ultimately the best way to obscure your identity is to take matters into your own hands and wear a mask.
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