Like Google, but for individuals: PimEyes blocked children’s search

PimEyes, a subscription-based facial recognition search engine, has changed its service policy to prohibit searches for images of minors. With a database of nearly three billion faces and approximately 118,000 searches per day, the platform allows users to find images of themselves online.

However, the service previously had no guarantee that searches would only be based on personal images, allowing parents to discover photos of their children online, sometimes without even knowing it.

Restricting searches to minors was due to concerns that the technology could be used by individuals with malicious intent. PimEyes will continue to allow searches of minors by human rights organizations involved in protecting children’s rights.

While this protection is a step in the right direction, it is not completely foolproof. Artificial intelligence is used to identify photographs of minors, which, however, can face accuracy problems, especially in the case of teenagers, who are sometimes difficult to distinguish from adults.