We hear about identity theft all the time, whether it is from commercials for consumers who have had their identity stolen, or possibly family members that have had to go down the long hard road of getting their identity back. People are constantly discovering that out there, a thief is spending their money, running up their credit, or worse; but we almost never think about thieves stealing our faces.

 

We don’t think about how someone can steal our pictures and create an entire online presence, trick friends, family and coworkers into believing it is them or even catfish other people! Your face is unique just like your fingerprint, and only you should be able to choose where and what your face is being used for.

 

There are big headlines of stars and others having their pictures stolen, or “deep fake” videos being created of them. In these instances, fake porn can be made and to look like their face is on pictures that they do not want out in the world, being distributed or even sold. But it’s not just the starlets that are in danger of this huge scam: regular people are being targeted everyday, including your children and loved ones.

 

FaceChex has created an online platform that combats this potentially life-altering crime. When you sign up for FaceChex, the site is going to create a unique fingerprint of your face that they can pick up anywhere your photos are being used without your consent. You have different plan options so you can scan for 5 photos, 10 photos, 15 photos or more.

 

Once you have saved your specified media library, FaceChex is going to scan hundreds upon thousands of websites for you and report back to you everywhere where your photos have popped up. Once that happens you get to go through that list and verify if it’s a site you want your photos on, or if that site is using your photos illegally. If they are in fact using your photos without your permission you can take the legal steps, like filing a DCMA to force them to take it down. This is how FaceChex helps not only protects you as an individual but also protects your children, loved ones, or anyone worried about protecting images of their face online.

On February 4, Facebook turned 15 years old. Despite the record profits made in 2018, this will be remembered as the worst year of its history in public relations due to the numerous controversies in which the social network was involved.

Throughout this period, the social network became a company that dominated the world of internet communication. Only Facebook, according to data released by the company itself, now has 2.3 billion users – a third of the global population.

Last year, the Menlo Park, Calif., Company reported a net note of $ 22.1 billion. Along with Google, Facebook controls about 60% of the money invested in online advertising worldwide.

Much of its growth has been built upon the steady erosion of societal norms around privacy, encouraging us to share ever more of our lives with ever more of the world.

Facebook’s ubiquity in digital communications is a double-edged sword. It is the main reason for the company’s extraordinary profits, but also why the company starts to be criticized and monitored with greater attention by regulatory bodies of the different governments of the planet.

Violations of privacy and sale of user data, abuse of advertising practices, the disclosure of false information, platform security, and vulnerabilities to hackers are viewed as the Achilles heel of one of the most powerful Internet companies currently.

As Kalev Leetaru assertively wrote in his Forbes article, “one of the most existential questions of the modern world is why we as a society have accepted the steady erosion of our digital rights and the loss of the concept of privacy.”

“Why do we no longer care about privacy?” is the question Leetaruy tries to answer. In his analysis, Facebook was able to conditionate the entire human race to give up its privacy in return for free access to a global communications network.

Earlier this week, the actress Scarlett Johansson talked about a problem she’s been facing for a while: deepfake porn. That’s not the first time she sees her privacy gone viral. In 2012, a hacker was sentenced to 10 years in prison after leaking nude photos of her and other celebrities, setting an example to warn future thieves.

As we mentioned in a previous post, Deepfake videos are generated by the application of a technology similar to the “face swap” used in Instagram and other networks. The algorithm has been used to superimpose faces of women – many of them female personalities – to people in pornographic videos. The result can be highly realistic fake videos.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Johansson has spoken out against deepfakes. One fake video, described as real “leaked” footage, has been watched on a major porn site more than 1.5 million times. “Clearly this doesn’t affect me as much because people assume it’s not actually me in a porno, however demeaning it is. I think it’s up to an individual to fight for their own right to their image, claim damages, etc”, Scarlett comment.

Johansson also mentioned the difficulty in pursuing legally since every country has different laws regarding copyright and the right to your own image. Unfortunately, online exploitation is a long time problem that Facechex is fighting since day one.

“Vulnerable people like women, children and seniors must take extra care to protect their identities and personal content. That will never change no matter how strict Google makes their policies”, she pointed.

“People think that they are protected by their internet passwords and that only public figures or people of interest are hacked. But the truth is, there is no difference between someone hacking my account or someone hacking the person standing behind me on line at the grocery store’s account. It just depends on whether or not someone has the desire to target you.”

FaceChex is an online platform that stops third parties from using your private content without your permission. You can learn more about the company and the technology behind it on our website.

Photo: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock

FaceChex is an online platform that stops third parties from using your private content without your permission.

Watch the video below to understand how you can protect yourself.