This seems like it will not end well.
Facebook is testing a system that allows users to message themselves their nude photos in an effort to combat so-called revenge porn.
It will store a “fingerprint” of images to prevent any copies of them being shared by disgruntled ex-lovers.
The trial is in Australia, where studies suggest one in five women aged 18-45 may have had image-based abuse.
But one expert says there will still be problems outside Facebook and related sites such as WhatsApp and Instagram.
Facebook said it looked forward “to getting feedback and learning” from the trial.
This is the absolute worst way to address this. “Oh you think someone is posting nudes of you without your permission? I will be glad to help you, please use this form to upload the photos. We will scour our databases for similar ones and delete them. Trust us.”
Even if this were a way to solve this, why not a way to generate the fingerprint without sending the photo to someone else. And what about if the photo is altered. Saved as a PNG while the original is a JPEG. Cropped, rotated, color altered just by a tiny bit.
Oh and then what about abusing this ‘service’? What stops me from uploading a picture of Barak Obama as revenge porn? Is Facebook really going to delete any photos that match the ‘fingerprint without human review? And doesn’t human review introduce a whole new level of creepy-assed-shit?