
Google has announced that two of its most recent privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs), including one that blurs objects in a video, will be made available to anybody for free via open source. The new capabilities are part of Google’s Protected Computing program, which aims to change “how, when, and where data is processed to technically ensure its privacy and safety,” according to the firm.
The first is an internal project dubbed Magritte, which is currently available on Github and utilizes machine learning to recognise objects and blur them as soon as they come on screen. It may hide arbitrary things such as license plates, tattoos, and more. “This code is especially useful for video journalists who want to provide increased privacy assurances,” Google noted in a blog post. “By using this open-source code, videographers can save time in blurring objects from a video, while knowing that the underlying ML algorithm can perform detection across a video with high-accuracy.”
The other, dubbed “Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) Transpiler,” enables developers to execute computations on encrypted data while preventing access to personally identifying information. Google claims that it can assist businesses such as finance, healthcare, and government “where a robust security guarantee around the processing of sensitive data is of highest importance.”
Google observes that PETs are beginning to permeate the public after previously being primarily an academic exercise. According to the White House, the technology “will allow researchers, physicians, and others permitted access to gain insights from sensitive data without ever having access to the data itself.” Google stated that this year, both the US and UK governments are holding a competition to find PET solutions for financial crime and public health catastrophes.
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