Finding Your Photos Online

BlueSerenity · 11-12-2009, 12:12 PM

Worried about photo theft? See if your photos are posted on the Web.

Recently, a friend of mine congratulated me for selling one of my wildlife photos. When I asked him what he meant, he sent me a link to a site that was prominently using a shot I had taken of some wolves. The problem? I had never given the site owners permission to use my photo, which they had "borrowed" from my Flickr page. I asked them to remove the photo, and they did -- but not everyone out there is so reasonable. You can watermark your photos to prevent this sort of thing from happening. But is there any way to find your photos online to see they're being used inappropriately?
It turns out that there are a couple of ways to keep an eye on your photos.

Your photos are vulnerable
Before we go any further, though, allow me to emphasize that whenever you post a photo on the Internet, there's a potential for theft. There is no way to completely protect a photo from being used without your permission. Even if your Web page uses a special script to disable the right-click "Save picture as" command, a determined photo borrower can simply take a screen shot of the Web browser. The only way to absolutely secure your photos? Never share them online.

Reverse image search
Suppose you have posted some photos on a photo sharing site and you're curious to see if someone has absconded with them. What you need is a way to perform a reverse image search -- where a smart search engine looks for a photo by detecting identical content within the image itself, rather than keying on file names or metadata, which are easily changed.
That might sound like science fiction, and in fact it's pretty close. But I've found a Web site out there, TinEye, that can actually perform reverse images searches today.

To use TinEye, you can upload a photo from your computer or point the site to a Web page that already hosts the photo. TinEye then returns a list of sites using the same image.

TinEye is far from perfect. It often identifies photos that are similar to -- but not exactly the same as -- the source image. Worse, TinEye's database of photos represents only a fraction of what's available on the entire Internet -- so if you get zero results, that doesn't mean your photo isn't being repurposed out there somewhere.

Mz K · Mz K

I never upload my pictures in these type of stuff

MrCee · MrCee

Your photos are vulnerable
Before we go any further, though, allow me to emphasize that whenever you post a photo on the Internet, there's a potential for theft. There is no way to completely protect a photo from being used without your permission. Even if your Web page uses a special script to disable the right-click "Save picture as" command, a determined photo borrower can simply take a screen shot of the Web browser. The only way to absolutely secure your photos? Never share them online.

End of story

Mr. Marcus ™ · Mr. Marcus ™

Ive been using tineye for years. It is a pretty good tool... but, it is hit or miss when using it. Sometimes it works ... sometimes i doesnt. They obviously cannot know of every single image on the net.

But seriously ... who cares if someone uses a picture of yourself. As long as they are not using it to make money and not giving you any cut in the profits or as long as they are not usint it to harm you ... i dont care.

I have had hundreds of my pictures online since i was 12 ... no problems at all.

I think this is more for paranoid people.

Mz K · Mz K

Like me lol

MrCee · MrCee

Originally Posted by Mz K

Like me lol

Say cheese!

Mz K · Mz K

lol the reason why is at some point in my city people used to take pictures and then do some type of photoshop on it then say you were a whore and e-mail it to EVERYONE so i was too scared and still am now lol even tho it's not true my pride is all i have

MrCee · MrCee

I feel the same way Mz K

BlueSerenity · BlueSerenity

man some of the things ppl have done with other ppls pics....
ive shared my pics with ppl i trusted and who i felt wouldnt use them for anything negative...there is one pic of one of my loved ones that i regret sharing because i believe someone did use it...but you live and learn...but as they said in the piece the only true way to keep your pics from being used or misused is to not share them...

liltsangie · liltsangie

blu dont discourage the pretty girls on DHAZ to post their pics it colors up the board

11-12-2009, 12:12 PM	#1
Finding Your Photos Online Worried about photo theft? See if your photos are posted on the Web. Recently, a friend of mine congratulated me for selling one of my wildlife photos. When I asked him what he meant, he sent me a link to a site that was prominently using a shot I had taken of some wolves. The problem? I had never given the site owners permission to use my photo, which they had "borrowed" from my Flickr page. I asked them to remove the photo, and they did -- but not everyone out there is so reasonable. You can watermark your photos to prevent this sort of thing from happening. But is there any way to find your photos online to see they're being used inappropriately? It turns out that there are a couple of ways to keep an eye on your photos. Your photos are vulnerable Before we go any further, though, allow me to emphasize that whenever you post a photo on the Internet, there's a potential for theft. There is no way to completely protect a photo from being used without your permission. Even if your Web page uses a special script to disable the right-click "Save picture as" command, a determined photo borrower can simply take a screen shot of the Web browser. The only way to absolutely secure your photos? Never share them online. Reverse image search Suppose you have posted some photos on a photo sharing site and you're curious to see if someone has absconded with them. What you need is a way to perform a reverse image search -- where a smart search engine looks for a photo by detecting identical content within the image itself, rather than keying on file names or metadata, which are easily changed. That might sound like science fiction, and in fact it's pretty close. But I've found a Web site out there, TinEye, that can actually perform reverse images searches today. To use TinEye, you can upload a photo from your computer or point the site to a Web page that already hosts the photo. TinEye then returns a list of sites using the same image. TinEye is far from perfect. It often identifies photos that are similar to -- but not exactly the same as -- the source image. Worse, TinEye's database of photos represents only a fraction of what's available on the entire Internet -- so if you get zero results, that doesn't mean your photo isn't being repurposed out there somewhere. __________________	About Poster By: BlueSerenity Join Date: Oct 2005 Networking Rating: None Add To Favorite Share Views: 165

MrCee	post #3 11-12-2009, 01:31 PM
Dhaz Supreme Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Ny Street Cred : 5 Posts: 8,775 Dhaz Dollarz: 500 Gifts: 52	Your photos are vulnerable Before we go any further, though, allow me to emphasize that whenever you post a photo on the Internet, there's a potential for theft. There is no way to completely protect a photo from being used without your permission. Even if your Web page uses a special script to disable the right-click "Save picture as" command, a determined photo borrower can simply take a screen shot of the Web browser. The only way to absolutely secure your photos? Never share them online. End of story

Mr. Marcus ™	post #4 11-12-2009, 02:29 PM
Mr. Marcus ™ Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: ¤Ç®ØöK£yÑ¤ Street Cred : 10 Posts: 7,136 Dhaz Dollarz: 500 Gifts: 19	Ive been using tineye for years. It is a pretty good tool... but, it is hit or miss when using it. Sometimes it works ... sometimes i doesnt. They obviously cannot know of every single image on the net. But seriously ... who cares if someone uses a picture of yourself. As long as they are not using it to make money and not giving you any cut in the profits or as long as they are not usint it to harm you ... i dont care. I have had hundreds of my pictures online since i was 12 ... no problems at all. I think this is more for paranoid people. ßäÐmäñ åh ßäÐmäñ ... ƒøö£ åh å ƒøö£

MrCee	post #6 11-12-2009, 03:23 PM
Dhaz Supreme Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Ny Street Cred : 5 Posts: 8,775 Dhaz Dollarz: 500 Gifts: 52	Originally Posted by Mz K Like me lol Say cheese!

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Mz K	post #2 11-12-2009, 01:01 PM
Dark Phoenix Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Can/usa Street Cred : 28 Posts: 40,869 Dhaz Dollarz: 500 Gifts: 42	I never upload my pictures in these type of stuff

Mz K	post #5 11-12-2009, 03:20 PM
Dark Phoenix Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Can/usa Street Cred : 28 Posts: 40,869 Dhaz Dollarz: 500 Gifts: 42	Like me lol

Mz K	post #7 11-12-2009, 07:28 PM
Dark Phoenix Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Can/usa Street Cred : 28 Posts: 40,869 Dhaz Dollarz: 500 Gifts: 42	lol the reason why is at some point in my city people used to take pictures and then do some type of photoshop on it then say you were a whore and e-mail it to EVERYONE so i was too scared and still am now lol even tho it's not true my pride is all i have

MrCee	post #8 11-13-2009, 12:28 AM
Dhaz Supreme Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Ny Street Cred : 5 Posts: 8,775 Dhaz Dollarz: 500 Gifts: 52	I feel the same way Mz K

BlueSerenity	post #9 11-13-2009, 09:49 AM
Lyrical Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Dhaz Street Cred : 22 Posts: 19,477 Dhaz Dollarz: 500 Gifts: 72	man some of the things ppl have done with other ppls pics.... ive shared my pics with ppl i trusted and who i felt wouldnt use them for anything negative...there is one pic of one of my loved ones that i regret sharing because i believe someone did use it...but you live and learn...but as they said in the piece the only true way to keep your pics from being used or misused is to not share them...

liltsangie	post #10 11-27-2009, 08:33 AM
Check Your E-mail It Bounced Join Date: May 2007 Location: world wide web Street Cred : Posts: 1,444 Dhaz Dollarz: 500 Gifts: 14	blu dont discourage the pretty girls on DHAZ to post their pics it colors up the board