Facial recognition app being used to harass Russian adult film actresses

International Business Times is reporting that FindFace, a facial recognition app that taps neural-network technology, is being used in Russia to identify and intimidate woman who have appeared in pornographic films or have advertised on prostitution and escort services website.

The FindFace service was designed for users of the largest Russian social network “Vkontakte” and is based on face recognition technology developed by N-Tech.Lab.

Earlier this month, members of a Russian imageboard started a campaign to try to locate and identify actresses who appear in pornography, as well as women listed on a Russian website advertising prostitution and escort services. According to media reports, the imageboard users used FindFace to not only identify the women, but also shared archived copies of their Vkontakte profiles and repeatedly spammed the families of the women letting them know that they had been outed.

A recent project entitled ‘Your face is big data’ saw a Russian art school student photograph people who happened to sit across from him on the subway and then he used FindFace, a facial recognition app that taps neural-network technology, to track them down onVkontakte. The Rodchenko Art School student said it was ridiculously easy to find 60 to 70 percent of the subjects aged between 18 and 35, and, along the way, he said he learned a lot about the lives of complete strangers.

“We are making every effort to protect all Vkontakte users from potential malicious acts,” FindFace founder Maxim Perlin told Russian news site TJ Journal. “And we’re prepared, if necessary, to provide any information needed to find the users responsible for this harassment.”

Article Topics

biometrics  |  commercial applications  |  face photo  |  facial recognition  |  identity verification  |  law enforcement  |  privacy  |  Russia