3. TIL PhotoDNA, Microsoft software, can automatically identify an image as child p...

TIL PhotoDNA, Microsoft software, can automatically identify an image as child porn. Over 70 companies are using it to detect these illegal images and aid law enforcement around the world.

Actually, the way the software works :

1) Police seize child porn images.

2) Classification as CP of the pictures is done by the local jurisdictions (for the purpose of building a criminal case), Microsoft employees never see the images.

3) Police uses a piece of software provided by Microsoft to extract the Hash value of each CP file they have identified.

4) The Hash values are added to the PhotoDNA database

5) PhotoDNA then looks for those Hash values in every picture that goes through the service it is installed on.

Downsides

  • PhotoDNA only works with KNOWN pictures.

  • if the pictures are put inside a compressed archive (ZIP or RAR) PhotoDNA do not detect them unless it opens the archive. Passworded archives are then immune to PhotoDNA.

  • If the Hash value of the pictures is modified significantly chances are that PhotoDNA won't detect them.

  • PhotoDNA may contain the hash values of pictures that are not illegal but have simply been misidentified by law enforcement of that may be illegal in some jurisdictions but not in others.

  • PhotoDNA is useless when communications are encrypted by a variety of means such as Tor, VPN, SSH Tunnels, encrypted chat clients and other means of secure communication.

  • PhotoDNA does not prevent abuse, is a weak tool to find the original producers, it can merely help finds the consumers.

As commendable a project as PhotoDNA is, we must realize that it is not a silver bullet and that it is only a simple tool among others that the cop use in order to fight online CP distribution.

To catch the people responsible for the production of CP, good old police work in the most important tool.

/r/todayilearned Thread Parent Link - ibtimes.co.uk
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