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Protecting your website content from AI
A client in the charity sector recently raised a query regarding how they could protect their website content and in particular photographs of young people being scraped by AI. They were wondering if there was a way to stop AI from taking screenshots or downloading the photos. One suggestion was to distort the photos if there was an AI crawler visiting the site.
My response
You cannot.
AI is incredibly efficient at scraping websites. Any sort of solution such as disabling downloads or distorting the photos would not only be technically complex but would also be quickly circumvented by any determined crawler.
Whatever's on your website, assume it's already been stolen.
Policy matters
The only real solution or possible navigation of this issue is to have policies in place with a basic workflow before the images are uploaded on your website. Some of the steps you can take include:
- Remove image metadata, such as location and date, before uploading images onto your website
- Have an internal policy that sets out guidelines on what should or shouldn't be included in images
- Anyone who submits images (parents, museums, schools, etc) should have signed off on the privacy policy and terms and conditions
The very knowledgeable Mike Ellis directed me to a great section on the Kids in Museums privacy policy regarding AI:
Once photos are published online, we cannot guarantee that they will not be downloaded and/or misused by others. It is very easy for AI bots to scrape material from our website and social media channels. While Kids in Museums technically remains the data controller, there may be situations where it is close to impossible for the organisation to fulfil that role. This is true for any organisation that shares images publicly.
We will take steps to protect images of children and vulnerable adults, such as ensuring that no identifying information appears in the photo or is used in captions. This is a rapidly evolving area, and we will continue to review practical solutions to better protect images on our website.
The standout point is that this is a rapidly evolving area but efforts will be made to review practical solutions.
But what about robots.txt?
Theoretically you can use your websites robots.txt to deny access to AI crawlers which are scraping your site and gathering content.
This comes with its own caveats:
- You are presuming that AI has not already crawled and stolen all your content or images
- You are presuming the crawlers actually respect your robots.txt
- You are potentially blocking good traffic
Furthermore the number of AI crawlers increases daily so you are fighting an uphill battle trying to stop your data being visible.
Conclusion
Always take appropriate steps to protect people who may appear in images on your website as a pre-measure. Presume everything you publicly upload to your website can and will be stolen.
Leeds Children’s Charity
For more than 100 years, Leeds Children’s Charity has supported over 100,000 children. They provide breaks for children in Leeds facing disadvantage through residential stays. I worked pro bono on the development of their new website as my way of giving back to the community. It was a pleasure to work with such a lovely team and receive such great feedback:
"Working with Adam was a pleasure. He quickly understood our brief and provided clear, knowledgeable support throughout the project. He consistently went above and beyond to ensure everything was delivered to a high standard. Adam is a true expert in his field, and we would highly recommend his services."
Kayleigh Edwards
Marketing Manager
Cambridge University classics
I've recently started working with the University of Cambridge revamping their Cambridge Latin Course website. Since 1966 The Cambridge School Classics Project has been supporting teachers of classical subjects; creating world-leading teaching and learning materials, and providing training in their use.
I will be modernising this project and making it available as an easily digestible online course to support students and teachers.
Championing volunteering across Northern Ireland
Volunteer Now is the lead organisation for promoting and supporting volunteering across Northern Ireland. I recently overhauled their entire website with a brand new design, content strategy and navigational structure.
The site is now much easier to use and navigate, with streamlined course booking and a clearer path to volunteering opportunities.
Inspiring the next generation of anthropologists
London Anthropology Day is a free university taster day for Year 12, 13, FE students, undergraduate or graduate students interested in anthropology. I designed and built a bold new Wordpress website to help encourage the next generation of students to study Anthropology.
Vibrant new website for The Handbook Group
The Handbook Group was established for drivers and transport managers that needed a better way to access the different types of information required by their jobs. In collaboration with Door 22, I delivered a colourful and dynamic new website to launch their new brand and product offering.
New website for arts and heritage organisation
In collaboration with Thirty8 Digital I've just designed a bold new identity for Sweet Patootee Arts. This new website aims to showcase their wide collection of films and resources to bring inspiring, compelling and diverse stories of real people to an international audience.
Noise & Grain
In a new venture, I've set up Noise & Grain which is a small web design studio focused on building fast, accessible and user-friendly websites for museums, heritage organisations, charities and not-for-profits.
In collaboration with Marc Jenkins, Noise & Grain will allow us to work on larger and more challenging projects. Its a welcome return to working in a team and we've just completed our first large scale project for the RAI Film Festival.
New website
I've gave things a little redesign around here. Along with a fresh new look I've expanded my case studies and added more detail to help explain some of the problems I've helped solve.
There's also a new section to showcase my photography and explain my services.
Volunteer Now
Belfast based company Volunteer Now have approached me to design and develop a new website. Volunteer Now is the lead organisation for promoting and supporting volunteering across Northern Ireland. In this project we aim to simplify the content and design an accessible and user friendly website.