Android’s Photo Picker, that powers media selection in a number of apps, could soon be getting added protection that will warn users before explicit images are shared.
The tool, named Sensitive Content Warning, is already available in Google Messages, where it’s used to automatically blur any videos or images that may contain nudity. However, expanded into the wider Photo Picker software, it could become a powerful way to keep people safe from seeing and sending nude images.
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But is this too much interference?
It seems Google is working on integrating some of its content warning systems into wider Android processes. Spotted by Android Authority in one of their many code teardowns, it seems that Google is working on expanding the use of the Sensitive Content Warning (SCW) tool to the Photo Picker process, and through that, into other apps.
If you haven’t used
, then it’s entirely possible you might not know what this is. In short, the SCW is an on-device scanner that’s able to identify potentially explicit photos and videos, and can warn the user about them.
This comes in the forms of warnings when one is about to be sent, but also automatically blurs photos and videos when they arrive. The user then has the choice to manually remove the blur. The goal is to save people from seeing media they might not want to see, but also to stop people from accidentally sending private photos of themselves by confirming that they do, in fact, want to send a nudie pic.
For adults, the option needs to be switched on, but it’s automatically enabled for Supervised users in Google Messages (i.e., small children). Teenagers (13 to 17) can have the feature switched off by a parent.
You can easily see the intent behind the idea. Since a lot of apps use the Photo Picker to handle media sharing, enabling the SCW elsewhere would allow more apps to monitor the type of content being shown, and could be used to protect vulnerable people from potentially harmful media.
It’s not foolproof, of course. Media can be sent as files, rather than photos or videos, circumventing any protection. But don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good and all that.
In a similar vein, there is the question of how much we like the idea of Google’s systems presiding over what we see and consume. Yes, it’s all on-device, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit the idea worries me a little.
The intent is certainly good, but … let’s just say it’s been a long time since Google’s motto was ”
“.
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