Human Perceptions of Sensitive Content in Photos

Yifang Li, Wyatt Troutman, Bart P. Knijnenburg, Kelly Caine

Abstract: Before we can obfuscate portions of an image to enhance privacy, we must know what portions are considered sensitive. In this paper, we report results from a study aimed at identifying sensitive content in photos from a human-centered perspective. We collected sensitive photos and/or descriptions of sensitive photos from participants and asked them to identify which elements of the photo made each photo sensitive. Using this information, we propose an initial two-level taxonomy of sensitive content categories. This taxonomy may be useful to privacy researchers, online social network designers, policy makers, computer vision researchers and anyone wishing to identify potentially sensitive content in photos. We conclude by providing insights about how these results may be used to enhance computer vision approaches to protecting image privacy.