Your child’s photos could be training AI without your knowledge
Parents love capturing their kids’ big moments, from first steps to blowing out birthday candles. However, a recent study out of the U.K. has shed light on a concerning trend – many of these cherished images may be scanned, analyzed, and turned into data by cloud storage services without parents even realizing it.
A survey of 2,019 U.K. parents, conducted by Perspectus Global and commissioned by Swiss privacy tech company Proton, revealed that 48% of parents were unaware that providers like Google Photos, Apple iCloud, Amazon Photos, and Dropbox can access and analyze the photos they upload.
These companies use artificial intelligence to organize images into albums, recognize faces and locations, and suggest memories. While this technology is convenient, it also has the potential for more dangerous applications, such as the creation of deepfake videos.
Professor Carsten Maple, a cybersecurity expert at the University of Warwick, has warned that with as few as 20 photos, AI tools can create a convincing digital clone of a person, including deepfake videos. This poses a serious risk as even mundane photos, like a child at school or in the backyard, can inadvertently reveal names and locations. Shockingly, 53% of parents surveyed were unaware of this possibility.
Over half of parents, 56%, have automatic photo uploads enabled, meaning their phones constantly send new images to the cloud without any manual intervention. Furthermore, only 43% of parents knew that cloud services collect metadata like time, date, and location, and just 36% were aware that these companies analyze the contents of photos.
The study also found that nearly three in four parents (72%) believe that photo privacy is important, and 69% acknowledged the risks associated with digital footprints left by storing family photos online. This growing concern is a testament to the fact that parents are beginning to realize the implications of sharing their children’s photos online.
While this study was conducted in the U.K., its findings are applicable globally as American families also use the same technology platforms and face similar questions concerning the privacy and security of their family photos. In the era of AI, a family photo is not just a memory but also data that can be scanned, stored, sold, and manipulated into deepfakes.
As parents become more aware of these risks, it is crucial for them to take proactive steps to protect their children’s privacy online. Being informed about how cloud services handle their data, disabling automatic photo uploads, and being cautious about what information is shared online are essential measures to safeguard their family’s privacy in the digital age.
