The Rise of Revenge Pornography - Technical Background and Countermeasures

The Rise of Revenge Pornography - Technical Background and Countermeasures

Around 2010, smartphones' high-resolution cameras, always-on connectivity, and automatic cloud backup became the norm, creating the infrastructure for capturing, sharing, and spreading pornography in seconds; social networking sites minimized spreading friction with share buttons, link previews, URL shortening, and mobile optimization; CDNs delivered identical images instantly around the world, creating a structure where spreading is always faster than deleting. Metadata such as EXIF initially became a source of location data leakage, and image bulletin boards and compilation sites amplified visibility through anonymous posting and re-posting. Advertising networks and affiliates encouraged the monetization of illegal site operations, and search engine indexes, web archives, and mirror sites fixed the state of remaining even after deletion.

Acquisition tactics were also supported by technology. In addition to the sharing of lovebirds' selfies, typical examples include device and cloud hijacking (password reuse, phishing, SIM swapping), stalkerware planting, extraction from shared home PCs and backup media, and stringing names and whereabouts using OSINT and data brokers. When dropped on anonymous message boards and messaging, it is easy to perpetuate with screenshots and re-uploads.

The counter-technology has evolved on two layers. On the platform side, machine learning for nudity detection (NSFW classification) and perceptual hashing (e.g., pHash PDQ) automatically block identical similar images, and mechanisms for parties to pre-register their hashes to prevent their spread have also spread. Automatic metadata removal, standardization of reporting inquiry flows, requests to exclude search results, and legal tech to support legal takedowns are also being developed. Basic measures on the individual side include two-factor authentication and prohibition of password reuse, device encryption and remote wipe upon loss, review of automatic cloud backup settings, turning off the granting of location information, and utilizing transmission with a viewing deadline and one-time view functions.

Thus, the battle continues between the facilitating technologies that exist at each stage of the photo storage and sharing proliferation and the deterrent technologies of detection block deletion. Since site closure and legal reform alone cannot keep up with re-submission, it is essential to have both safety by design and operations that quickly stop the bleeding of individual cases.