Google announced a new tool for selectively blurring sensitive parts of videos uploaded to YouTube, such as faces, in an important move toward preserving anonymity in visual media. Efforts by WITNESS, a MacArthur grantee, helped bring about this development, which will allow activists and citizen journalists to selectively blur identifying features, such as license plates or addresses, that may put bystanders at risk. The purpose for the tool is to empower people to speak out safely in defense of their rights without fear of retribution.
