Deepfakes (mobile only)

The problem.

Deepfakes synthetic media present almost unimaginable and far reaching new problems for society.

For free software/ apps to give anyone the ability to impersonate another individual in images and on video so convincingly, opens the door to financial fraud, character assassination and diminishes evidentiality in court.

Digital photo files aren't coded to be tamper-evident which means forensic analysis after the fact can’t be relied on to determine the authenticity of any photo or video file.

As this technology advances - whenever a person is caught on video doing something reputationally harmful or criminal, it will be all too easy for that person to deny we are looking at a genuine image/video of them and society will have no choice but to offer that person the benefit of the doubt. Worryingly, this will also cause problems securing court convictions in cases which are now routinely successful.

The solution.

The private sector and academic researchers are just beginning to develop digital watermarks that will offer a solution to the deepfake problem. These watermarks offer a tamper-resistant seal originated from the camera itself, embedded in to the frames of a video file.

It works by adapting the signal processors inside - whether it's an expensive DSLR or a regular smartphone camera, cameras will place a digital watermark in the code of each file. This represents a proactive approach rather than just creating images for their visual quality and then hoping that forensics techniques work after the fact. Tamper resistant elements mark the file with indelible indicators that can be checked later, if needed, by forensic analysts instead.

Policy recommendation.

Government must reach out to technology companies that produce cameras and let them know that as soon as possible that they must use embedded watermarking technology in their camera products or face regulation.