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What is facial recognition / face search engines?
Facial recognition is a way of identifying or confirming an individual’s identity using their face. Facial recognition systems (engines) can be used to identify people in photos, videos, or in real-time. Facial recognition is a category of biometric security.
Do you ever wonder how Facebook automatically tags you on photos? or how the iPhone unlocks your phone with just your face. Facial recogntion was used as a tool to find missing people and criminals, and has become an everyday part of life. Its also being used in GooglePhotos to filter your pictures for you.
Which brings me back to, Face Search engines. You ask, what are Face search engines? Well let me tell you grasshopper. Face search uses this technology and allows anyone to use any picture, with your face on it, to locate you. Finds your social media accounts, news, articles, anything with your face on it online. There is a scope for error, but its still worrysome on what you will find.
How can face search engines be used against you?
Face search engines can be used against you, in a malicious manner, if you have a stalker, an old boyfriend, an abusive ex-husband, or if you are a person someone wants to OSINT because of the kind of access you can provide into a business or government agency. Or you are just a person that does not want to be found. Are you a criminal? Are you a private person? Are you catfishing someone? We need answers! Whatever, the reason, Face search engines can be used to find your social media accounts, giving that person, a look into your life.
There are several face search engine sites, however, PimEyes was a site that caught our attention, because of what it does. Based on the quality of the picture, it searches the majority of social media sites and locates wherever your image is being used. How scary or great is that? So ask yourself, how many times have you sent someone a picture. Picture this, you meet someone, in person or off a dating site, you hit it off and exchange phone numbers, and that leads to some potential photos exchange. Let's be honest you know you have to be reminded how cute you look in your outfit, and send him a selfie from home. Do you know how much information, you have given this potential sutter who might have malicious intent. Look at Geotagging, if you want to really know. This malicious person, can find your social media, look at your interest, friends, locations you been to, and find you, before you even meet. This person can gather intel on you, to hurt you, exploit you, or just be creepy.
Google images and Bing, also have ways of searching for people via a picture, using an image search. They do this via a reverse image search which shows visually similar photos. What this means, if there is another image of you on the internet, it might pop it up. If you have a background in the video, like a forest or a building, it will return images with similar backgrounds. So its as easy as pasting a picture of yourself into Google or Bing to find any pictures of you, or possible location in the world wide web.
How can you protect yourself?
The only way you can really protect yourself from technology like this, is limiting your online presence. Be careful what you post. If you do not need to post a profile picture of yourself, do not. Use a different picture, create an alter ego and use that name and a different picture.
With AI technology you can create a profile picture with software thats easily accessible now a days. Reference Social Media Sock Puppets for some information on AI pictures.
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