Worried that an abusive ex may upload intimate images of you to social media? Facebook may have a solution for you, though maybe not in the way you expect.
The company is testing a feature in Australia that lets users send their images to themselves on Messenger, allowing the platform to store the images’ digital footprints and prevent anyone else from uploading them in the future.
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While this feature may set all your danger instincts on high alert, the company says that it isn’t actually storing your images (which are secured by end-to-end encryption) but rather their hash values or links.
Facebook then uses the photo-matching AI it’s already been using when it automatically tags your face in images and the like.
“If somebody tried to upload that same image, which would have the same digital footprint or hash value, it will be prevented from being uploaded,” e-Safety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant told ABC.
But don’t suppress those instincts just yet: this is only a test and Facebook may not even know all of the features’ vulnerabilities just yet.
It’s also probably best not to keep your photos on a platform that could potentially be accessed by others — like if someone gets a hold of your phone or password. Or you could die and they’d be the first thing your legacy contact sees. But maybe that’s just paranoia.
Earlier this year, Facebook announced that it would would be placing tighter restrictions on revenge porn, including keeping a record of all violating images from being reposted in the future.
Feature image: Memeburn
