THREE leading camera companies including Sony, Nikon, and Canon are collaborating to combat deepfakes by adding digital signatures to images captured with their equipment.
Nikkei Asia reports that these signatures will include information like the date, time, place, and photographer and that they are resistant to alteration.
A worldwide standard for these signatures has been agreed upon by the three companies. They will offer mirror-less cameras with authentication technology for photojournalists and other professionals.
The report noted that the technology development was necessary due to the increasing prevalence of deepfakes.
“Such efforts come as ever-more-realistic fakes appear, testing the judgement of content producers and users alike. Deepfakes of former U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida went viral this year,” part of the report read.
The report added that a free online tool called Verify has been made available for picture verification by a coalition of major news outlets, tech firms, and camera manufacturers. The website shows the date, location, and other credentials if an image has a digital signature.
Seasoned fact-checker and researcher Fatimah Quadri has written numerous fact-checks, explainers, and media literacy pieces for The FactCheckHub in an effort to combat information disorder. She can be reached at sunmibola_q on X or [email protected].