If you’re constantly removing tags from unflattering photos your friends post to social media, one company is about to make your life a whole lot easier.
AVG Innovation Labs has created the “Do Not Snap Badge”—a sort-of pin that’s linked to software designed to automatically blur the wearer’s face in photos when they are posted online. The device works via an algorithm that is able to recognize the Do Not Snap logo, according to the company’s blog. And regardless of what platform the photo is posted on, the wearer’s face will still be blurred.
“The philosophy behind Do Not Snap is that Snapchat—or any social media—should automatically recognize when a user doesn’t want their image shared, and take action on it,” the company wrote. “This is a realistic ambition, as we demonstrated in a prototype earlier this year.”
That said, social media networks and online platforms aren’t obligated to integrate the badge-recognition-software. Popular apps like Snapchat and Facebook (FB) don’t currently have any plans to use it either, according to Business Insider. But AVG Innovation Labs has open sourced the technology to encourage its adoption, and people who wish to use Do Not Snap’s code can download it today.
“We’re trying to spark conversation and contribute something meaningful,” Maurice McGinley, design director at AVG Innovation Labs, first told Business Insider. “I think people aren’t aware of the need, and they aren’t aware of the threat, until privacy’s gone, so the first step is always to raise awareness.”
Coins2Day has reached out to AVG Innovation Labs and will update the story if we receive response.