On Wednesday, YouTube has started to offer a new feature that automatically blurs the faces of the people in uploaded videos with a single click.
The tool is primarily designed to help political dissidents to conceal their identity, but can also be used for a variety of other purposes. The technology looks similar to what has been used in Google StreetView for several years.
According to the international human rights organization WITNESS, no other video-sharing service currently offers such anonymisation features.
Better safe than sorry
YouTube hosts an increasing amount of politically themed footage, some of it coming from countries with oppressive regimes, such as Syria. Although these videos do a great job of helping protesters get more exposure, they can also be used by the governments to identify and lock up the freedom fighters.
via YouTube Launches Face Blur Tool To Help Protesters | TechWeekEurope UK.