Are you a real person? Well, you have to prove it to social media giant Facebook (now Meta) through the Instagram video selfie verification feature that is now being spotted by netizens. Social media consultant Matt Navarra was among the first to post about it on Twitter.
As the name says, Instagram will verify your real identity by recording a short clip and using its AI algorithms to know whether you are a real human or not. However, addressing privacy concerns, the company claims it won’t use any of the selfie video data for its facial recognition tech, nor will any biometric data be collected. The Instagram app says it will delete the said data within 30 days from the date of submission.
While recording the video, the user will have to turn their head in different directions to ease the identification process. But what Instagram is doing isn’t entirely new, and the company has been working on it for a while now. However, we already have such verification systems in other popular apps.
The Instagram video selfie verification feature seems ambitious and a step in the right direction. However, users who tried it have reported issues with uploading selfie clips and accessing their profiles.
The need for verified social accounts is more than ever in the digital age. There are tons of fake accounts and bots on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc., that are being used for evil deeds. The attempts to develop verification systems surely need to take care of the privacy aspect, which might make people worried otherwise.
