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Comment by 12xo | Hacker News Reader

As a photographer, I want security and assurances that my work remains my work and is not easily stolen nor transferable without consent.

As a user, I want simplicity and way to view work based on a number of options that I choose. Not based on an algorithm or AI. My choices, my mood, my desires.

Instagram is no longer a photo-sharing app. Its a platform for self promotion. Not much different than Twitter, LinkedIn or FB in that regard. I guess all social media dissolves into a self promotion circle jerk... Avoid their fate if at all possible.

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> my work remains my work and is not easily stolen nor transferable without consent

I think in general, this is a "hard" problem for an Internet-based service. You would have to include a watermark of some kind, which arguably hinders viewer experience. And regardless, it is still very easy for viewers to capture an image by downloading or taking a screenshot.

I do agree with your sentiment about IG though.

Honestly, I dont know the answer. Maybe its blockchain like tracking in the image file? Maybe its something else... There are many technologies available that can fingerprint a file, and others that can ID an image. A service that includes this type of feature would be good. And of course, anyone can screenshot an image, but they cannot resell a screenshot for commercial use.

But in the end the EULA of these apps are designed to shield the entities from liabilities while offering them many options for re-distribution of others work. That's the biggest problem.

Thus a watermark and maybe a service that does image searches for your images on a schedule and then alerts you if someone uses it?

This exists: https://www.pixsy.com/

> As a photographer, I want security and assurances that my work remains my work and is not easily stolen nor transferable without consent.

I'm curious how you reconcile this with your previous desire for the "old web": paywall? js to interfere with the ability to copy/hotlink images?

User agreements of these entities are onerous and impossible to challenge. They shield the companies in ways you cannot even fathom and allow many to steal your work and use as they please.

Ah, so you're referring to contractual issues (I posted an image and now Instagram's sub-licensing it to everyone a la https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/04/judge-smacks-dow...) rather than technical ones (user can't right-click save-as)?

Makes sense, thanks.

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