New 'Face-blurring Tool' Blurs Out the Faces of People Appearing in YouTube

Popular video-sharing website YouTube has added a tool which automatically blurs out the faces of people appearing in uploaded video clips.

The site, which is owned by Google, said the new tool would be of useful to activists who wish to share footage of protests involving participants who wanted to remain anonymous.

"This is emerging technology, which means it sometimes has difficulty detecting faces depending on the angle, lighting, obstructions and video quality," the site said on its blog.

"Because human rights footage, in particular, opens up new risks to the people posting videos and to those filmed, it's important to keep in mind other ways to protect yourself and the people in your videos," it added.

According to the BBC, users who wish to use the function must first upload their footage before selecting one of the site's Video Enhancement tools.

They are then given a chance to see a preview of the blurred footage before making the version available to others.

According to the report YouTube hinted other features would follow, describing the move as 'the first step towards providing visual anonymity'.

Source: ANI