Xposure v2 Beta

by NortonLifeLock Labs in collaboration with Norton Mobile Security

General Information

Thanks for your interest in testing Xposure v2.

Xposure uses deep neural network (DNN) classifiers and optical character recognition (OCR) technology to determine whether or not an image may contain sensitive content. Photos in your iPhone's library are scanned to find potentially sensitive photos, and Xposure gives you the option to store these photos in an encrypted vault. Additionally, Xposure's LiveLock feature allows you to generate a Live Photo whose key photo is blurred to avoid immediately disclosing sensitive content. The unblurred photo can be viewed in the last frame of the Live Photo movie.

We want your feedback. Is the classification accurate for you? Do you find it useful? How's the overall experience? What would make it better? We're all ears!

Disclaimers

Xposure is a beta product, and although we think it works great, you may encounter bugs. We are not responsible for any data loss you experience, including but not limited to loss of the photos you place in the encrypted vault.

Please be aware, Xpsoure's encrypted vault is local to the device on which it is installed. PHOTOS IN YOUR ENCRYPTED VAULT ARE NOT BACKED UP TO THE CLOUD. We plan to add encrypted backup and sharing in future versions. If you lose your device or uninstall the Xposure app, all photos in the vault will be lost and not recoverable.

Ensure that you choose "Restore to Library" before deleting the app if you want the pictures from your local, encrypted vault to be available after removing Xposure from your device.

FAQ

What are these different options that show up when I add a photo to my vault? What's a placeholder?

When you add a photo to your encrypted local vault from your photo scan results, you are asked what you want to do with the existing photo in your library. You can choose to leave it in the library, remove it from the library, or replace it with a placeholder.

If you replace it with a placeholder, the original image is overwritten with a blurred version which should hide any sensitive content. The placeholder gives you a way to easily access the encrypted version in your local vault directly from the native Photos app. To do so, find the blurred placeholder photo in your library, select the share button in the lower left, then choose "Xposure Vault" from the list of sharing options. After you authenticate with biometrics or your passcode, the decrypted, unblurred photo will be shown.

Please be aware that if you choose to remove a photo from your library or replace it with a blurred placeholder, then the only place the unblurred photo will exist is in your local vault. You will lose this copy if you lose your device or remove the Xposure app without first restoring the photos to your library.

What is a LiveLock photo, and how do I create one?

A LiveLock photo is a way to create a blurred image in your library that can be quickly un-blurred by pressing and holding on the image. Unlike the standard placeholder images used by Xposure, the LiveLock photo does not require additional biometric or passcode authentication before unblurring. As such, it's not meant for strong security. Rather, it can be a nice way to avoid a shoulder surfer from seeing the image while you swipe through your photo album looking for other pictures. It also lessens the likelihood of accidental disclosure when you hand your phone to a friend to look at other photos.

Creation of a LiveLock photo is only available in the "Take a Photo" screen of Xposure which allows you to take a new photo using your camera. After taking the photo, select "Add to Vault", followed by "Add a LiveLock photo".

What if I want to add a LiveLock photo for a picture already in my library?

For now, you can do this using the following steps. First, find the photo in your library from the native Photos app. Then select the share button at the bottom left. Choose "Xposure Vault" from the list of sharing options. From the dialog that is presented, select "Open in Xposure". This will bring you to the add photo screen in Xposure, as if you had taken the picture using the camera. You can then proceed as above, by selecting "Add to Vault", followed by "Add a LiveLock photo".

Please let us know if this is a useful feature for which you would like to see a more streamlined flow.

I thought this thing would find NSFW photos, where are they?

Early feedback from consumers was that they were most interested in finding sensitive documents. However, Xposure does have a nudity / NSFW detector which can be turned on in the app's settings. Once you turn "NSFW sensitivity" to something other than "Disabled", you may find some photos categorized into a "Private" category. We currently use an open source detector that will likely have some false positives.

Why won't my phone go to sleep while Xposure is scanning my photo library?

Apple is very restrictive about when app processes are allowed to run. We only have full processing power when the app is active and the screen is on. So, by preventing the phone sleeping, we are able to finish the scan most quickly. You can change this behavior in settings, or simply switch to another app and the scan will be paused.

If you don't want to leave the app open to run the scan, we will attempt to run the scan in the background when your phone is plugged in. But be aware that iOS only allows us to run periodically and for a limited amount of time, so it may take a while for the app to finish the scan. You can always open up the app to see what's been found so far and to allow the scan to proceed more quickly in the foreground.

Some photos that aren't sensitive are being classified in one of the senstive categories. Why?

Our DNN classifiers and OCR aren't perfect, and we'd love to hear your feedback on how well they are performing for you. There may be some false positives (a photo being placed in a sensitive category that does not apply to it) and false negatives (missing a photo that should be placed in a category). For the false positives, you can get rid of the photo from your scan results by touching "Mark Not Senstive". If you would like to help us improve our classifiers during the beta, you can submit these not sensitive, false positive photos to us. This can be done under settings by selecting "Help us Improve". Note that only photos that you have marked as not sensitive from the scan results will show up as an option to submit.

If you choose to use this feature, please ensure that you don't submit any photos with sensitive or personal content. The photos will only be used to improve our classification models.

Privacy

The Xposure app does not currently collect any information about the user. All photo classification and processing is done locally on the device. If you choose to use TestFlight to submit feedback or crash reports, then Apple may in turn provide that information to us. We will use it only for the purposes of improving the app for future versions. We do collect information about scan speed to help us understand performance in the field, but it is not associated with any information that identifies the user. During the beta, you may choose to submit false positive photos to help us improve our classifiers. These photos will only be used to update and improve our models. If you choose to use this feature, please ensure that you don't submit any photos with sensitive or personal content.

Legal

Apple, iPhone, Live Photo, and TestFlight are trademarks of Apple Inc.