YouTube Adds Face Blurring Technology

YouTube has announced a new Face Blurring feature designed to help protect the identities of the people in videos, whether it's an activist in the middle of a conflict, or a parent protecting the identity of a child.

In the announcement about the new Face Blurring feature added to YouTube, a reference was made to the international human rights organization WITNESS' Camera Everywhere 2011 Report, which stated "No video-sharing site or hardware manufacturer currently offers users the option to blur faces or protect identity."

This report outlined some key challenges, including Privacy and Safety; Network Vulnerabilities; Information Overload, Authentication and Preservation; Ethics; and Policy; and went on to make a number of recommendations.

Now that video uploaded to the internet is becoming mainstream, government organizations may use to identify the identities of protestors using it. Google's Face Blurring Technology should help to change that.

Link to Witness' Camera Everywhere Report: http://www.witness.org/cameras-everywhere/report-2011

YouTube stated it's exited to be among the first to offer a feature allowing users to obscure faces in videos with a click of a button.

Click here to see the complete announcement.

Below is a screenshot of the new feature at work (click to enlarge).