Sharing cherished moments on social media is an integral part of an influencer/content creator's life. Unfortunately, they underestimate the risks of their private information being leaked, like their home address or bank information, when posting unassuming pictures on social media. It's also worth noting that there are NO significant laws, online security companies, or identity theft protection services that can help people when their digital content is at risk.

PrivateHood is a powerful AI platform that enables users to check their sensitive information on social media posts, track their digital content, and fight against malicious actors. Utilizing AI computer vision, facial recognition, and reverse image search technology, it offers the highest level of protection for a user's personal information 24/7. While it may seem complex and advanced, PrivateHood is designed to be user-friendly and head-on. Users only need to review risk reports and determine how to handle sensitive content. These reports provide a comprehensive overview of sensitive information within users' accounts and any similar content posted by others or on other social media platforms. It provides a suite of tools and services to help manage users' digital assets and provide legal support.

It is every individual's right to share moments casually without fear of their data being stolen, exploited, or sold. PrivateHood empowers individuals, especially influencers, to take control of their digital assets on social media and safeguard their personal information.

Context

The protection of influencers' (content creators) online privacy and safety on social media is a pressing issue that requires attention. By 2022, there are 50 million social media influencers/content creators worldwide. They share their daily life and every moment on public platforms. However, they underestimate the risks of their private information being leaked or their own content being re-edited and reposted without any permission.

Challenge

How might we protect users' online privacy and empower them to fight for their digital asset rights?

Design Process

During the user research, I found that almost every influencer receives a large amount of harassing messages on social media. They have all experienced being discussed, exploited, and cyberbullied on various unfamiliar platforms. The worst part is that they fear that these harassers and haters know their private information and may use it to harm them.

Through iterating 5 versions of prototypes and 2 rounds of design sprints with 3 female influencers, I got critical insights.

- Insight 1: It was discovered that they are concerned about the sharing of sensitive information in their posts. They acknowledged that it is not always possible for them to thoroughly check every post.

- Insight 2: They are uncertain about which platforms their content may be reposted on, particularly those located in foreign countries.

- Insight 3: Followers and businesses focus on the content, flow, marketing, and interests that influencers made, but how much professional help they can get if their privacy is leaked and personal safety is threatened? The answer is 0.

The project aims to deliver a user-friendly and reliable solution, PrivateHood, to empower influencers to safeguard their sensitive information online. After analyzing the user journey of influencers(Create-Post-Share-Repost), the solution is designed based on key insights gleaned from user research and design sprints, with a focus on facilitating source content inspection and interruption of posts spreading. These two objectives have been expanded into four full protecting functions to ensure comprehensive online safety.

How PrivateHood works (Four|Full Protection)

For users, they only need to FACE IT and FIGHT IT.

FACE IT

- Set personal privacy preferences

- Read risk reports (PrivateHood can check all posts, collect the sensitive points and generate the risky report.)

FIGHT IT

- Track risk points (PrivateHood allows users to track all the sensitive points and see the source )

- Choose how to handle the sensitive content (PrivateHood can help users to edit, delete, report, get legal help, etc on the posts).

Stakeholders

Direct stakeholders

Current social media influencers share digital content and have massive numbers of followers. They might have experiences like their sensitive information has been identified or their selfies have been reposted on dating apps or etc.

Potential stakeholders:

Potential stakeholders would be the young generation who uses social media. As social media develops, being an influencer has become a popular aspiration for many young generations, But they are too young to have the awareness to protect their own online privacy and safety.

Impact

The social media environment has become increasingly challenging for everyone to navigate. Issues such as content imitation, deep fakes, unauthorized recreation of content, personal injury, and cyberbullying are prevalent. More than that, as AI in image generation developed explosively, more and more users start to train the model by using digital assets on public platforms. It's really necessary to protect the digital assets that people created and shared online.

Therefore, creating a safer and healthier online environment for the current and future generations of influencers is crucial. PrivateHood is designed to empower all current and future influencers to protect their online safety and rights.