SmartFrame Technologies joins newly formed body to help raise awareness of online safety technologies
London, UK – 27 October, 2020: SmartFrame Technologies Ltd, a UK-based SaaS technology provider specializing in image streaming, is pleased to announce that it has been appointed as an associate member of online safety tech industry body OSTIA.
OSTIA was established earlier this year, with the aim of bringing together industry experts, advisory bodies and other organizations to tackle threats to online safety. The body seeks to promote its members’ technologies to policymakers and influential organizations, with a particular focus on threats to the most vulnerable members of society. Founding members of OSTIA include Cyan Forensics, Yoti, Securium and Safe To Net.
SmartFrame Technologies is set to work with OSTIA and its members in drawing attention to the risks around online image publication, combining its image-protection expertise and proprietary technology to help address a number of these issues.
OSTIA’s core belief, that the internet should be a safe place for all, is perfectly aligned with the principles on which SmartFrame Technologies was founded. Since 2015, the company has been helping individuals, businesses and other organizations to protect their images from theft and misuse, ensuring images can be published in a protected format and with a duty of care to any subjects featured within them.
By harnessing the power of image streaming, SmartFrame allows users to have visibility and control over their published images, wherever they are online. Images are layered with features to protect against theft, and can be selectively blocked from domains or completely withdrawn from circulation if required. This undermines efforts to harm people through the use of stolen images, whether it’s by setting up fake online accounts and social media profiles, or more extreme acts such as revenge porn.
“Most people have no idea just how frequently seemingly innocuous images are downloaded and reused, without the creator’s knowledge or permission,” explains Peter Shackleton, Business Development Director at SmartFrame Technologies. “These are commonly used to create fake online profiles and personas, or manipulated into something more sinister. The rise in deepfake media over the last few years underlines just how sophisticated such attacks are becoming, which highlights the corresponding need to safeguard personal images from those who intend to harm others.”
Ian Stevenson, Chair of OSTIA, welcomed SmartFrame saying: “We are delighted that SmartFrame has joined us as a valued associate member and is applying its technology to online safety applications. The more organizations operating in the online safety technology sector that join together, as part of OSTIA, and work together to make a difference, the more impact we can have as a collective.”
SmartFrame looks forward to working with OSTIA and its members, in addition to amplifying the body’s message and helping to create greater awareness of the ways in which everyone can help protect themselves online.
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About OSTIA
OSTIA is a newly launched UK association, the first of its kind, that brings together expert companies and advisory bodies to tackle online safety. The association aims to provide a voice of hope by informing policymakers, technology providers and the general public about online safety technologies; to create a networking forum for companies contributing towards the goal of online safety; and to create a collective influence on policy, regulation and broader support for the sector. To achieve its aims and objectives, OSTIA aligns two spheres in the online safety space: the government, IWF, NSPCC, and mental health foundations working to make the online world safer; and the companies that are providing the very online world in question, such as social media and gaming companies. OSTIA’S launch was welcomed and supported by the National Crime Agency, GCHQ, Home Office, NSPCC, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and others.
About SmartFrame Technologies Ltd
Founded in 2015, SmartFrame Technologies Ltd is a London-based software provider whose aim is to redefine the digital image standard for the benefit of photographers, visual artists and organizations. Through its SmartFrame platform, the company has a global footprint of clients and partners using its technology to protect, track, control, present and monetize their content.
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