AWARD YEAR
2021
CATEGORY
Body
GOALS
Good Health & Well-being, Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions, Navigate Post-Factual Society, Trust, Tolerance & Empathy
KEYWORDS
activists, Civilian Protection, racial injustice
COUNTRY
United States of America
DESIGNED BY
Signal
WEBSITE
https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/4/21280112/signal-face-blurring-tool-ios-android-update
Blur tool - extra coat for activists
Signal added a simple-to-wield blur tool that automatically reads faces on images and pixelates them
While historic numbers of people marched against racial injustice in the US this year, the nation also saw an uptick in vigilante violence. To protect the identities of activists and other users on its messaging app, Signal added a simple-to-wield blur tool that automatically reads faces on images and pixelates them. It also includes a manual brush feature, in case it misses a spot or needs to scrub out other giveaways like a street sign. If you snap the photo through Signal, it won’t save the original version, so the blurring magic is truly irreversible.
The design provides an extra coat of armor for activists.