ID theft service monitors Web for misuse of selfies
03 September, 2014
category: Biometrics
Another celebrity nude picture scandal erupted over the weekend. Many of the pics are real, but fake ones are also circulating.
Ian Koskela, CEO of Face Data Inc., has some advice and help — whether you’re a celeb who’s stalked by paparazzi or just someone who likes posting pics of yourself online. His company has launched Face Guardian, an identity theft monitoring service that offers image protection.
“Let’s not stop taking selfies, but let’s do it with some safeguards that can protect us from the dangers out there,” Koskela says. Face Guardian works on the premise that facial photos contain biometric data that can be used to reveal an identity. Users register their facial images and are alerted when those images – and similar ones – are found on the Internet.
“To accomplish this, it uses a combination of reverse image search and facial recognition technologies,” Koskela says. Another service is offered in which Face Guardian will negotiate for the removal of an image that is being misused.
Koskela got the idea after a friend called him in a panic. “Someone was using her selfie to lure people into a sexual encounter. She discovered it by luck,” Koskela says. “I thought to myself, how much of this is actually going on and how would the average person even become aware of it? The more research I began to do, the more I realized that this is becoming a big issue.”
Face Guardian users can sign up to have one photo monitored for free through Facebook Connect. A premium service allows users to guard up to ten photos at a time for $9.95 a month.