People are just realising you can see if your pictures are being stolen online – how to check

WITH the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and so-called ‘deepfakes’, it’s never felt more important to have full governance over your pictures.

Personal snaps get snatched and posted onto random sites all the time, but there are ways to track this bad practice down.

If you’re happy on a PC and wanting to delve deeper, there are websites offering Google’s reverse image search feature as a paid-for serviceGetty

To find out if you’re pictures are being used without your permission, simply open up Google Images on your PC.

If you’re able to see public photos of yourself on Google Images, such as an old Facebook profile picture, click it.

From here you will be able to conduct a reverse image search of the photo, to find where else it crops up online.

All you need to do is tap and hold the photo for a second and select Search Google For This Image. 

This will automatically open Google Images and start the reverse image search for that picture.

If you’re wanting to do this on a smartphone, there are a number of highly recommended apps which promise to do this.

Reverse Image Search App, Reversee: Reverse Image Search and Photo Sherlock search by image are some of the most popular among tech experts.

But you can do it yourself via Safari on an iPhone, by following these steps:

Open Safari on your iPhone or iPad and go to images.google.comTap on AA from top left and then tap on the Request Desktop Website. Tap on the Camera icon in the search bar. Click Upload an image > Choose File > Photo LibrarySelect the picture you want to search and tap on Done to upload it and see results for this image.

Here’s how to do it on Android:

On your Android phone or tablet, open the Google app.At the bottom, tap Discover.In the search bar, tap Google Lens.Take or upload a photo to use for your searchSelect the area you want to use for your search, such as your face. At the bottom, scroll to find your search results.To refine your search, tap Add to your search. Then, enter keywords.

Alternatively, if you’re happy on a PC and wanting to delve deeper, there are websites offering this as a paid-for service.

Websites like PimEyes, for example, which have developed a controversial image for its ability to trawl the internet for every single trace of your face using AI.

The company says it helps people protect themselves from “scammers, identity thieves, or people who use your image illegally” by showing them where their photos are being used without consent.

Depending on which subscription you have, PimEyes will even help draft up data protection ‘takedown notices’ to have images removed from websites.

For monthly subscriptions which range between £30.99 and an eyewatering £300.99 per month, users are granted significant internet trawling powers.

PimEyes has been at the centre of multiple controversies, across the UK, Germany and the US.

But following a change in leadership, the site has been found to not violate any privacy laws following investigations by UK and US regulators.

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