Instagram Asks For Video IDs To Prove You Aren’t A Bot, Gets Fooled By Ken Doll
Image via Ink Drop / Shutterstock.com
You might be all too familiar with a random direct message request on Instagram from a highly dubious account with even more dubious message contents. You could just write them off as spam and delete the chat, but that doesn’t make them any less annoying.
Instagram appears to be testing a new feature to lessen the chances of these accounts, sometimes dubbed “spambots,” getting through the system and creating an account to message real users with. Now, when creating a new account, users will need to verify themselves through a video selfie.
This short clip will then be processed by artificial intelligence (AI) to determine if the account is being set up by a real person. This will, however, also depend on whether the AI will be skilled enough to differentiate a real person’s face from an animated person.
However, it doesn’t look too promising at this stage of development: a user on YouTube has shared a video of the verification feature accepting the facial features of a Ken doll.
This new feature was first spotted by Matt Navarra, social media consultant, who shared screenshots of the new process on Twitter. Meta, Instagram’s parent company, has stated that it promises not to store these clips for more than a month, and that they also will never be visible on Instagram.
“We need a short video of turning your head in different directions. This helps us confirm that you’re a real person and confirm your identity,” the instructions read.
Instagram is now using video selfies to confirm users identity
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) November 15, 2021
Meta promises not to collect biometric data. pic.twitter.com/FNT2AdW8H2
It’s a process similar to to dating sites like Tinder, but these apps have primarily stuck to photo verification, asking for selfies from various angles.
Android Police details that upon attempting to create a new account, the video verification feature wasn’t present, so it may be some time before the tool becomes more widely rolled out.
[via Android Police, cover image via Ink Drop / Shutterstock.com]
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