
Combating “Fake News” with a Smartphone “Proof Mode” - joezydeco
https://guardianproject.info/2017/02/24/combating-fake-news-with-a-smartphone-proof-mode/
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2xlbuds
I think this is trying to combat a phenomenon that isn't based on logic with
something that is - I doubt it will work. Fake news is such a powerful tool
because it plays into people's biases and reinforces their beliefs. I doubt
the sort of person who would believe in conspiracies will take the time to
understand what digital fingerprinting is.

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omegaworks
I still think that it is incredibly important that we make tools for
validation of primary source material easy to use and friendly for non-
technical people.

Tech for faking video is getting more powerful day by day.

[http://graphics.stanford.edu/~niessner/thies2015realtime.htm...](http://graphics.stanford.edu/~niessner/thies2015realtime.html)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohmajJTcpNk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohmajJTcpNk)

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CM30
It's a decent start, and works for quite a few stories. However, it'll need to
be used with other solutions in order to cover various other cases where this
doesn't help. Such as:

1\. Where it's the object in a photo that needs to be confirmed as real. For
example, a fair few sites will take pictures/scans of magazine or newspaper
articles, and this wouldn't help in those cases (since it only says the photo
is of a real object).

2\. Where the photo isn't taken with a camera. For example, a lot of
entertainment journalism (like for movies and TV shows) and almost all gaming
journalism requires capture cards to get the screenshots, not a camera. So
something like this that could be adapted to these use cases would be nice to
see as well.

3\. And finally, where the image is real but used in a misleading way. Time
and place stamps help here, but still leave room for manipulation by careful
camera angles and what not.

But still, it seems like an interesting tool none the less.

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ThrustVectoring
This doesn't really deal with the issues involved in "fake news". What it does
is let you know with confidence that you have what someone is asserting -
namely, that they say they took this photo at this time and place with that
smartphone.

This doesn't touch on all the other ways of influencing the narrative that
news organizations have. Editorial discretion is a huge factor. Someone high
up in, say, the WSJ, can decide that manufacturing importance for a story is
in their best interest, and now we see _these_ facts brought to our attention
instead of _those_ ones.

~~~
empressplay
Every news organisation has editorial bias. Those who say they don't are
either liars or fools.

~~~
choward
There is a huge difference between bias and a straight up lie.

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ahartman00
this is a pretty cool project, but the title is misleading at best.

tldr; So when you enable proof mode on your android phone, it grabs your pgp
key(auto generated), gps, datetime, hash of photo, etc; and signs your
picture.

This could be useful in court, or any time you need proof that the photo is
'real'. As in, you were there, at that time, etc.

It doesnt address taking things out of context [1], presenting only certain
facts, etc. Those are the tools/weapons that I am worried about.

rant: Am I the only one getting tired of seeing some technical tool which is
essentially trying to prevent lying or bias? Or the fact that people believe
ridiculous things if it confirms their worldview? This is not a technical
problem imo... Look at lie detectors. If you can control your pulse, then you
appear to be telling the truth. These days those devices are no longer
trusted. I feel like these types of stories are lie detector 2.0(not this one,
just the title). Sorry for the rant. /rant

1\. [http://imgur.com/CMykxFC](http://imgur.com/CMykxFC)

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dTal
As far as I can tell, the app proves nothing, except that the data comes from
you. At the end of the day, you're taking a bunch of data and signing it with
a PGP key you made up. That data can be anything - it doesn't prove that you
were _actually_ there, or that it's a _real_ photo.

God know why the article was flagged, though.

~~~
grzm
_God know why the article was flagged, though._

Submissions are flagged by members; if the submission accrues enough flags,
the '[flagged]' tag appears. Enough HN members thought the piece was
inappropriate for HN. Off the top of my head, members may be feeling "fake
news" meme exhaustion, or have come to the same conclusion you did, "the app
proves nothing", and thought it wasn't worth discussing.

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HappyTypist
What's to stop you from faking a digital signature, faking its timestamp, etc?
You're signing it with your own key.

Needs a timestamping sever

