The dangers of the #10yearschallenge

Thursday, January 17, 2019

For the last couple of days, you've probably seen a bunch of #10yearchallenge posts on Facebook. The idea is pretty simple and seems harmless at first glance. Basically, you have to post a picture of you 10 years ago (2009) and another one today (2019) so we can see how much you have or haven't changed in the last 10 years. We can even use our profile pictures, which are already public, to compare, so there shouldn't be any additional risk that Facebook (or someone else) can use them in a more sinister way right?

Not exactly...

Yes, it's true that in the vast majority of cases, these photos were already public and Facebook had access to it. That being said, it's not rare that some people use a photo that's a couple of years old, so it's possible that your profile picture in 2009 was a 2007 photo... it's also possible that a photo that you took in 2007 was only uploaded in 2009. So if Facebook (or the FBI, NSA, etc.) wanted to filter all that out, it would take an incredible amount of ressources. With the #10yearchallenge, you allow them to know exactly how you looked 10 years ago, without them having to spend ressources on filtering everything out, which saves them lots of time, ressources and money.

OK, but what can they do with an old profile picture anyway?

Lots of things... For starters, you're giving them access to pictures of yourselves, so you might be helping out facial recognition softwares. So far, that's not too bad, because unless you're a criminal, it shouldn't be a problem for you. 

Then, it helps them develop software that helps age old photos. This kind of technology could be used, for example, to find kids that were kidnapped years ago, or find an old fugitive.

Great! So far it's only good news no?

Sadly, this kind of technology can have some other consequences... it will allow marketing agencies detect your age just by looking at your picture, allowing them to target you even more. Worst still, insurance companies will be able to know your age and adjust your insurance accordingly, without even having to ask for your information. 

Just to be clear, we're not saying you shouldn't participate in the #10yearchallenge. All we want to do is inform you about what you might be doing when participating. It's the same thing with the little games you see on Facebook where some words are associated with your birth day and birth month. For example, the one who tells you what should be your Halloween costume this year by picking your birth month and day (and it gives something like a Mysterious Cat). It might be a simple way for them to get your birthday.... So be aware about what you share on Facebook because one day, it might come back to haunt you.