Issues of privacy always seem to be looming in the contemporary internet space. The swelling need for privacy has compelled Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) to go the extra mile and enhance privacy on its flagship, YouTube video streaming service.
Wednesday, July 18th, it came to light that Google had launched a new face-blurring tool for YouTube. One notable advantage about this tool is that it is intuitive, and exceedingly user friendly.
Adam Conway, a YouTube associate, shared the news through a blog post. He comments that the new tool will be more than helpful to activists and users, who, for reasons best known to them, want to conceal the identity of those in their videos. However, he remarked that since the technology was new, occasional errors in blurring would be noted, citing that maximum satisfaction was not guaranteed.
I, however, believe that subsequent improvements will make the tool close to perfect.
How does it work? Quite simple; once you have narrowed down to the video you want to edit, within the video enhancement tool, you click on the additional features tab, and apply the already built in, blur all faces functionality. It is a simple step by step process, that merely requires you to click your mouse- how easy is that? To add spice to the functionality, Google has allowed users to have a preview of how the blurred faces will look, before publication. In addition to that, all edits are saved in a new video file, providing you with the option of either saving or deleting the old video file.
This standout move spells well for Google, as it demonstrates its ability to identify, and meet changing consumer needs. The amateur video incline is bulging by the day, as more people embrace the smartphone craze. As such, videographers, both seasoned and receded, are faced with the need of protecting the privacy of the people in their videos. Google has managed to meet this overlooked need with its easy to use face-blurring tool.
Series of Privacy Wrangles
This breakthrough comes after we previously reported Google’s privacy wrangles with Apple (AAPL). Apparently, Google was alleged to have knowingly tricked Apple’s safari browser users. According to the allegations, it purposely bypassed users’ privacy settings and exposed users to online tracking protocols. This allegation was later confirmed by the FTC which concluded that Google should dish out $22.5 million as a legal settlement.
Before this, Google was yet again pulled into another privacy scandal, after U.S Senator Chuck Schumer concluded that its mapping service, alongside Apple’s, was intruding on the privacy of Americans.
The new face-blurring tool opens a new chapter in Google’s book, as it tries to push the dirt below the carpet, and clean its name as far as privacy is concerned.
