Categories: Tech & Society

One-Click Anonymity: YouTube Offers Automatic Face-Blurring

YouTube is chock full of videos where lighting and camerawork make it hard to figure out who’s in the clip. Now YouTube is giving video creators the ability to make it even harder to identify people.

Youtube has rolled out a face-blurring tool that’s supposed to let video makers automatically obscure the faces of everyone in their clips. YouTube offers a number of reasons why you’d want to do this, like protecting the privacy of kids at a basketball game.

But it seems most intent on presenting it as a human rights tool: A blog post suggests that the feature could be used to “share sensitive protest footage without exposing the faces of the activists involved.” An accompanying screengrab shows the tool in action for a “Demonstration for Egypt” event.

YouTube takes pains not to promise total protection. It describes the tool as a “first step towards providing visual anonymity,” and goes on to explain that the tool may not work at all in some cases, “depending on the angle, lighting, obstructions and video quality.”

It’s still interesting to see the company offer any kind of service that makes it easier to duck a camera’s gaze. Because much of the tech world, including Google itself, is spending a lot of time on visual recognition tools, like “face-finding” features.

Via: All Things D

Team TechPanda

Recent Posts

Disrupting Fintech: How product studios are transforming financial services

In the rapidly evolving financial technology landscape, innovative product studios are emerging as powerful catalysts…

2 days ago

Harnessing the power of AI: Preparing today’s workforce for tomorrow’s challenges

In an era defined by rapid technological advancement, Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands as a transformative…

2 days ago

Indian esports makes history at BRICS Esports Championship in Moscow

In a historic moment for Indian esports, Wasfi “YoshiKiller” Bilal secured a silver medal at…

3 days ago

Geek Appeal: New gadgets & apps on the block

The Tech Panda takes a look at recently launched gadgets & apps in the market.…

3 days ago

Ecosystem harkat: India’s Biotech & space tech, early stage tech startups & women entrepreneurs in blockchain

The Tech Panda takes a look at what’s buzzing in the startup ecosystem. The startup…

3 days ago

Harris vs. Trump: Forecasting Bitcoin’s Future in a Post-Election Economy

With just days until the outcome of the U.S. presidential race, Bitcoin enthusiasts across the…

4 days ago