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YouTube introduces face blurring technology for sensitive videos

YouTube introduces face blurring technology for sensitive videos

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YouTube is rolling out a face blurring tool that will make it easy for uploaders to mask the identity of themselves and others in their videos.

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YouTube is taking what it thinks is a big step towards keeping the video sharing site a leader for first-hand reporting with the introduction of a face blurring tool. The new option is available to uploaders in the Video Enhancements menu after uploading and it is activated in one click. The technology will then be used to identify faces throughout your video and blur them. It's designed for any sort of sensitive video — be it of a human rights protest or your child's birthday party. Unfortunately, there's no option to manually add blurring, so if the automatic tool misses any faces your only option is the mark the video as private. YouTube believes the new feature "allows people to share personal footage more widely and to speak out when they otherwise may not," but it also says that face blurring is just the "first step towards providing visual anonymity" — suggesting that we'll be seeing more identity-masking technology on the site soon.