Facebook already has a bad reputation when it comes to the privacy of its user base, but a new development suggests that it’s not aware of just how low its credibility has gotten. The social media giant has come up with a novel way to prevent revenge porn in partnership with the Australian government.
Instead of waiting around for nudes to be shared by an ex or hackers with access to your photos, Facebook suggests uploading them yourself to Messenger. This sounds like a bizarre way of combatting revenge porn, but there is some logic the company has applied here.
Once you send your intimate snaps to yourself on Messenger, Facebook is supposed to hash the picture. This creates a digital fingerprint or link, so the firm won’t actually be storing the photos on its servers. Post this, it can track the image using the same AI tech it uses for its photo and face matching algorithms.
Also Read: Facebook’s taking on YouTube with new video platform Watch
That way, Facebook can detect if someone is trying to upload the same shot in the future and stop them in their tracks. Of course, this depends entirely on whether you have the images in your possession. Even if you do, there is the question of whether you’d trust the site with that kind of information in the first place.
It’s a well-known fact that systems can be fooled and accounts on social media sites like Facebook can be hacked. It sounds like too much of a risk to upload nudes to a website, even if there are reassurances of safety.
Australia is one of four countries adopting the feature on a pilot basis. We’ll have to wait and see whether users feel comfortable enough to share naked pictures of themselves with a giant multinational corporation.