Facial recognition app 'used to shame sex workers and porn actresses as trolls
Source: Kirstie McCrum

The app is being used to expose sex workers and porn actresses online. File photo

A facial recognition app which reveals the identity of unknown people snapped in photos has been co-opted as a tool to SHAME sex workers, it's reported.

FindFace was launched in February as an aid for the identification of random members of the public snapped in Russia.

But now women who work in the sex industry are allegedly being identified and abused online on the country's equivalent of Facebook, Vkontakte (VK).

In a seemingly creepy use of tech, the company explains that FindFace is intended to find users of Russia's largest social network in the virtual space with just one photo.

Read more: Facebook's Photo Magic scans phone cameras and auto-tags pictures

The project, based on facial recognition technology developed by N-Tech.Lab, is explained in the robot-voiced video above.

FindFace says it's for searching for people on social networks, similar to those shown in photos

"FindFace allows you to find the person, find the public info and contact them via social networking account," the female tones state, adding that the algorithm won't be stopped by bad lighting or angles.

The identification accuracy is around 70%, and if the right person isn't found, the app will let users look at images of similar-looking people.

Read more: DeepFace AI is scarily accurate future of facial recognition software

But although the app is marketed as useful tech, internet security firm Sophos reported in Russia's T Journal that the program has been used to track the social media profiles of sex workers and porn actresses.

Generic sex worker


Dvach, or '2chan', a Russian version of anonymous bulletin board 4chan with links to subculture and activism, is reportedly being used as a forum for the information to be shared, with users sending messages to friends and families of the women.



Sharing the VK pages of the women they'rve identified, the Dvach posters claim that the 'doxing' - researching and publicising identity details - is a moral campaign against women in the adult industry who are “corrupt and deceptive".

Women who work in the adult industry are being unmasked to their friends and relaitives. File photo

FindFace said the company makes "every effort to protect all network users from potential malicious actions and are ready in case of need to give all information to search for such users," reports T Journal .

For its part, VK has banned a group that opened which practiced the tracking, according to Global Voices , but there are still communities using it.


Speaking to T Journal , FindFace founder Maxim Perlin said there’s no way he can prevent people from using his service to harass, but that they will work with the authorities to find abusers of the system: “We are making every effort to protect all Vkontakte users from potential malicious acts.

"And we’re prepared, if necessary, to provide any information needed to find the users responsible for this harassment.”