Is Your Picture Worth a Thousand Ads?

We have written numerous posts discussing how companies want to know who you are, what you do, and where you go online because this information can translate into big advertising revenue. Your photos may be the new frontier.

Gmail, the popular email service, already "reads" your email to display relevant sponsored links. Why not your pictures? New technology can analyze photos at an amazing level of detail. Accordingly, some speculate that we are on the cusp of a new era of advertising.

The tools are already available. Like.com is pioneering a visual search engine that "describes [a] photo's contents and enables a more accurate search for similar looking items and products." A similar company, Riya, boasts technology that finds "similar faces and objects on many images across the web."

There is already a wealth of images on social networks, photo-sharing sites, and even photo developing sites (e.g., Facebook, Myspace, Flickr, Kodak Gallery). With these resources in place, it is likely only a matter of time before pictures are mined for information to target ads.

But, depending on the technology being used and the photos being mined, there can be very significant implications for your privacy and free speech. Photos can contain a wealth of information for companies, advertisers, and even the government- photos often document your friends, your family, your hobbies, and your habits. Once your private photos are analyzed and profiles are created, you won't know how the data will be used or where it will end up.

The government would need to go to a judge and get a warrant to come into your home and search photos in an album on your bookshelf. But if your photos, or profiles about you mined from your photos, are stored as a business record by a third-party photo sharing or photo developing site, the government can argue that there is no Fourth Amendment protection and can access the information with a mere subpoena.

This new technology is just another reason to think carefully about what pictures you choose to post or develop online. It is important to be aware of these developing risks and choose your online services carefully.