Submission + - Interpol unscrambles doctored photo in manhunt. (google.com)
jackpot777 writes: From the AP story out of Paris, France:
Good for Interpol in this instance — the man in question is wanted in connection with an international investigation involving online videos and children. But it does show one interesting facet of internet privacy that has also been noted with topics ranging from reading blurred check numbers in images to Google's plan to blur out license plate and face data for Street View. And that is: blurring is not the same as completely obscuring. In the Interpol instance, the suspect would not have been identified if he had placed a single-colored shape over his head in the pictures.
Just something you might want to think about if you're planning to post photos of yourself online in the throes of embarrasing / illegal / politically noticable acts. As computers become more adept at extrapolating data of different types, your identity isn't safe unless you completely cover all those identifying features. Filter > Distort > Twirl is as good as nothing.
The international police organization said German specialists had succeeded in producing identifiable images of the man, from the original pictures, where his face had been digitally blurred, but the man's identity and nationality remain unknown, prompting Interpol's public appeal.
Good for Interpol in this instance — the man in question is wanted in connection with an international investigation involving online videos and children. But it does show one interesting facet of internet privacy that has also been noted with topics ranging from reading blurred check numbers in images to Google's plan to blur out license plate and face data for Street View. And that is: blurring is not the same as completely obscuring. In the Interpol instance, the suspect would not have been identified if he had placed a single-colored shape over his head in the pictures.
Just something you might want to think about if you're planning to post photos of yourself online in the throes of embarrasing / illegal / politically noticable acts. As computers become more adept at extrapolating data of different types, your identity isn't safe unless you completely cover all those identifying features. Filter > Distort > Twirl is as good as nothing.
