SASKATOON -- Face filters used in social media apps are creating challenges for police when it comes to identifying suspects and missing people through photos.
Face filtered photos have become increasingly common since 2016, said Julie Clark, public service consultant for Saskatoon Police Service.
She estimates three out of five photos used in missing person press releases have filters of some kind.
"It's very hard to know, we have to be very careful when we put out a photo and the descriptor as well," Clark said. "You can say someone doesn't have any piercing but a filter could add a piercing. Or recently I saw a missing person with a pair of glasses on … it was really hard to tell, but those glasses were a filter."
Filtered photos are most often provided by family members of missing people and are commonly girls under the age of 18.
Why filters?
"What we're seeing today especially in teens is constant social comparison," said Alec Couros, information and communication technologies professor at the University of Regina.
"They look in the mirror and they are constantly comparing themselves to what they see on Instagram and the augmented and airbrushed photos that are just not very realistic."
Face filters can be distressing and cause mental health issues for many young people, he said.
Clark said police try to stay up to date on the latest social media face-altering trends.
"Whatever we can to stay on top of the current trends, and hopefully social media and technology will help us in the future and not hinder us."
