Interpol unblurs images to ask for your help

Interpol is enlisting the Internet to help identify a man that was photographed sexually abusing young boys in a series ranging in around 200 images in size. Normally, topics of these nature don't make it to the news section of bit-tech, but this one is a special case.

Specialists in the German federal police force have managed to unmask the man's face after a swirl effect had been used to conceal his identity. The unmasked images were released by Interpol on Monday via a press release.

"The decision to make public this man’s picture was not one which was taken lightly, but after thoughtful consideration and with the full agreement of experts from Interpol’s member countries dedicated to fighting this appalling criminal activity," said Assistant Director of Interpol’s Trafficking in Human Beings Unit Kristin Kvigne.

The image series, which contains twelve male youths, appears to have been taken in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Interpol is asking for anyone who can identify the man to contact it through an email form on its website.

These types of image blurring techniques are commonly found throughout the Internet. Many people use swirling and pixelation techniquies to hide identifiable information such as bank card numbers, social security numbers, and faces but these techniques are proving inefficient. The best method (and the only method I have ever used except in a few cases) is to completely colour over the information.

If you think you know the person in the images then send a detailed email over to Interpol. Currently, there have been over 200 replies to the inquiry.

Do you use a pixelation or blur method to hide your personal information or do you just use a nice black box? Hope the guy gets caught? Leave your thoughts over in the forums.