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[SITUATION] · [QUIET] · [TECHNOLOGY]

2 clusters · 10 sources · 3 days · First seen · Last updated

Microsoft AI image watermarking privacy concerns

Overview

Security researcher Xusheng Li has identified a mechanism within Microsoft Paint and Photos applications that embeds invisible, server-issued watermarks into AI-generated images.

Technical analysis reveals that even when image generation occurs locally, prompts are sent to Microsoft Azure servers for moderation. The servers return a 128-bit Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) which is then encoded into the image pixels via a component known as ‘Watermarker.dll’. This invisible watermark is distinct from visible Copilot logos and is not explicitly disclosed in Microsoft’s documentation.

The researcher noted that these GUIDs are linked to the C2PA manifest as a ‘soft binding’ value. Because the application sends the previous generation’s ID back to the server during subsequent moderation requests, the mechanism could potentially allow Microsoft to link successive user requests, reconstruct a history of user interactions, and map specific AI-generated content back to original user prompts and accounts.

Entities

Microsoft · Xusheng Li · Vector 35 · C2PA · Azure

Timeline

  1. 16 days ago

    [TECHNOLOGY] 2 sources
    Microsoft Paint and Photos embed traceable AI watermarks, researcher finds

    Researcher Xusheng Li found that Microsoft Paint and Photos embed invisible, server-issued GUIDs into AI-generated images, potentially allowing user accounts to be traced via these watermarks.

  2. 18 days ago

    [TECHNOLOGY] 8 sources
    Microsoft Paint embeds invisible GUID watermarks in AI images

    Researcher Xusheng Li discovered that Microsoft Paint and Photos embed invisible, server-issued GUID watermarks into AI-generated images, potentially allowing for the tracking of user prompts and interactions.

Sources

blogspan.net · clubic.com · drweb.de · finance.technews.tw · ithome.com · kaminata.net · rockyharbour.ca · security.nl · softzone.es · techplanet.today