Hey there, my tech-savvy followers! I’ve got some interesting news for you today. Brace yourselves for this one – a massive facial recognition search engine called PimEyes has taken a bold step to protect children’s privacy. According to a report from The New York Times, PimEyes has decided to block searches for children’s faces on its platform. Well, at least it’s trying to.

So, here’s the deal. PimEyes has introduced a new detection system that uses age detection AI to identify whether the person in the photo is a child. Sounds great, right? But hold on, it’s not perfect just yet. The New York Times tested it out and found that the AI struggles when it comes to identifying children photographed from certain angles. And, to make matters more complicated, it doesn’t always accurately detect teenagers either. Oops!

But hey, let’s give credit where credit is due. PimEyes’ CEO, Giorgi Gobronidze, had actually been planning on implementing this protection mechanism since 2021. It was only recently fully deployed after an article by Kashmir Hill from The New York Times highlighted the potential harm AI could pose to children. Talk about good timing!

According to Gobronidze, human rights organizations working to help minors can still search for them on PimEyes. However, all other searches will now produce images with blocked children’s faces. It’s a step in the right direction, but there’s still work to be done.

In Hill’s article, she mentions that PimEyes had already banned over 200 accounts for inappropriate searches of children. One parent even discovered photos of her kids on the platform that she had never seen before. To find out where these images came from, she would have to pay a monthly subscription fee of $29.99. Yikes!

PimEyes is not the only facial recognition engine that has come under fire for privacy violations. Hill’s investigation in The New York Times back in January 2020 revealed how law enforcement organizations were using a similar engine called Clearview AI without much oversight. It’s a concerning trend, to say the least.

Daly Barnett, a staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, criticized PimEyes last year for its lack of safeguards for children. She pointed out that privacy should be built into technology from the beginning, rather than users having to opt out of having their privacy compromised. And you know what? She’s absolutely right!

So, my friends, while PimEyes’ attempt to block searches for children’s faces is commendable, there’s still room for improvement. Let’s hope they continue working on their age detection AI and make it more accurate. After all, protecting our little ones should always be a top priority.

That’s all for now, folks! Stay tuned for more tech news and remember to keep your humor levels high and your love for technology even higher. Catch you later!