#pimeyes

On TikTok, PimEyes has become a formidable tool for internet sleuths trying to identify strangers, with videos notching many millions of views showing how a combination of PimEyes, and other search tools, can, for example, figure out the name of a random cameraman at a Taylor Swift concert.

I am a firm believer that people should be able to be anonymous and secure online. Over a lifetime of trial and error, I've slowly learned the best ways to protect myself, and I'd like to pass on that knowledge to anyone who wants to hear it.

Last updated May 2024 (added links to news articles about PimEyes being used to identify someone in real life)

Switch to Firefox for your main browser on Windows and Android

Avoid any browser based on the Chromium project (like Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome), as Google has a major conflict of interest that prevents it from truly having users' privacy interests at heart. It makes ~70-80% of its revenue from its highly targeted advertising business, for which it must collect as much information about you as possible. That means that no matter how badly certain parts of Google want to build privacy into the browser, business interests and pressure will always supersede them, or at least force a compromise that still enables some tracking. Firefox is owned and maintained by a non-profit, so it does not have that same conflict, and it shows in the features it builds (and does not build) and the way it treats its users.

I made a list of my favorite Firefox extensions if you want to make your internet experience more pleasant and/or more secure!

Note: on iOS (i.e. iPhones), Firefox' functionality is limited by Apple restrictions and I do not recommend it - using Safari with Extensions like Adguard or 1Blocker is more secure and will give you a better experience. I made a list of my favorite iOS Safari extensions too!

Use a reputable password manager

I suggest 1Password (avoid LastPass and all of the password managers built into browsers, they're not safe). A good password manager increases your online safety by:

Helping you avoid password reuse (a common cause of account hacking)

Generating complex passwords that are difficult to guess or brute-force, and

Allowing you to keep records of all the different sites you have accounts on (so you can quickly change passwords in the event of a breach or delete your accounts on them when they outlive their usefulness)

Delete old accounts you no longer need

If your data has been deleted, no one can steal and leak it if they manage to hack the company.

Sign up for alerts from HaveIBeenPwned (HIBP) to be notified when your data is leaked in a site hacking.

This allows you to quickly change your password, hopefully before anyone is able to decrypt it (if it wasn't stored properly) or use it (if it was easy to guess). If you have reused that password on other sites, be sure to change your password on those sites either.

Note that some leaks don’t actually have any info about what website they were stolen from; if criminals just dump a huge text file onto a hacking forum that has your username and an accompanying password in it, HIBP doesn’t necessarily know what site they hacked to get that info. This is where a password manager like 1Password will come in handy, because 1P can actually use HIBP’s API to check each of your passwords and see if any of them have been leaked before. It will alert you if you need to change a specific password, even if you weren’t aware that site had been hacked.

Note: 1P only sends the first 5 characters of the password hashes to HIBP, not the passwords themselves. You can read more about the feature and how it preserves your privacy here.

Assume all profile pictures on any site are public, and avoid using your face for them if possible

New AI-powered sites like PimEyes can take an image of you, identify your face, and search for it in other, unrelated images around the internet. I searched for myself using a recent image that had never been posted to the internet before, and it immediately identified me in completely separate images I was using as my profile pictures on Facebook and LinkedIn and provided links to my accounts there. In this new AI era, assume anyone who snaps a picture of you can link you to your identity on any website where you have publicly posted your face before. This is not hyperbole; fans used PimEyes to identify a cameraman at a Taylor Swift concert using nothing more than a screenshot of a video taken of him by a concertgoer. Note: for what it's worth, you can submit an opt-out request to PimEyes if you are worried about someone using it to find your accounts online, but it requires you to submit images of your face and your government ID to the company...

Never post the same (original) image on two accounts that you do want to keep separate

2022 AfroPunk

PHOTOS BY EMMANUEL AGBEBLE

I was listening to NPR this morning and they had mentioned the AI driven app PimEyes which I had used previously to find photos of myself that are on the internet that I am aware of but don't have copies of. I found about ten more photos from last year's AfroPunk that I attended with my niece on her birthday week. I still marvel at my look which was literally put together right before we left the house that day utilizing things I had purchased just that morning.

[Toe to Head - Dismantle the look]

-Open toe sandals purchased in Jaipur India on a 2007 trip

- Thai fisherman pants made in Nepal bought on Etsy

- African Print corset purchased at L Train Vintage/Brooklyn

-Mud cloth sash purchased in Ghana on my 2011 trip

-Necklace by Alicia P

-Rainbow umbrella purchased that morning at the Brooklyn Museum gift shop

-Queen sunglasses purchased in Bedstuy at Rainbow

-Vintage Indian bangle and silver cuff purchased in India in 2007

-Attitude models own

Gesichter-Suchmaschine PimEyes ist umgezogen

DSB hat Verfahren gegen PimEyes eingeleitet

Geht man auf deren Webseite, so steht dort, dass man mit seinem Foto nach Bildern im Internet suchen kann, auf denen man vielleicht auch zu sehen ist. Das soll der Geschäftszweck der Firma sein. Man kann aber auch ein beliebiges Foto, z.B. von einer Überwachungskamera von einer Demo hochladen und die Software nennt einem alle ihr bekannten Personen, die sie mit ihrer biometrischen Software erkennt.

Zahlt man darüber hinaus 35€ pro Monat, so bekommt man zu den Suchergebnisse auch Links zu den Websites mit weiteren Fotos der gesuchten Person. Für monatlich rund 346 Euro kann man unbegrenzt viele Suchanfragen pro Tag stellen - das muss das Abo für Polizei, Geheimdienste und private Schnüffler sein ;-) PimEyes behauptet von sich bereits eine Datenbank mit Hunderten Millionen Gesichtern zu besitzen.

Für uns alle droht der Verlust der Anonymität

Niemand darf gegen seinen Willen identifiziert werden - außer bei polizeilichen Ermittlungen. Mit diesem Argument versuch Baden-Württembergs Datenschutzbeauftragter gegen PimEyes vorzugehen. Bisher vergeblich, denn die Firma hat noch nicht einmal den Fragenkatalog des DSB beantwortet. Vorsichthalber hat sich PimEyes offiziell einen neuen Geschäftssitz auf den Seychellen gegeben.

Während PimEyes gegenüber dem DSB untergetaucht ist, antwortete der neue PimEyes-Chef, Giorgi Gobronidze, auf Nachfragen von netzpolitik.org

er verstehe die Datenschutzbedenken gegenüber der Technologie „voll und ganz, da sie wirklich umstritten ist und es noch keinen konsolidierten Konsens zu diesem Thema gibt“. PimEyes speichere keine Fotos, sondern allein die digitalen Fingerabdrücke der Gesichter, zusammen mit den entsprechenden Links zu den Fundorten im Netz. „Die PimEyes-Suchmaschine sammelt also keine Informationen über lebende Menschen, sondern über URLs, die eine bestimmte Art von Informationen enthalten könnten.“

Ja, warum sagen sie nicht gleich, dass sie nur unbedeutene Nullen und Einsen in ihrer Datenbank haben ...

Omdat het met AI, supercomputers en software als Clearview en PimEyes relatief simpel is om militairen te identificeren, dragen Belgische militairen komende week op de nationale feestdag verplicht een ‘tactische sjaal’. De gezichtsbedekking, een sjaal tot net onder de ogen, is verplicht en bovendien ‘van levensbelang’, vindt Defensieminister Theo Francken. ‘Een tegenstander die weet wie deze…

Zoekmachine PimEyes gaat een detectiesysteem inzetten om zoekopdrachten naar kindergezichten te herkennen en te blokkeren. Dat kan kinderen in gevaar brengen, aldus ceo Giorgi Gobronidze. De maatregel is onderdeel van het ‘no harm’-beleid. Een algoritme gaat de leeftijden inschatten ‘om minderjarigen te identificeren’. Dat werkt volgens Gobronidze (nu nog) beter met 14-minners dan met oudere…