I can't stress how bad an idea it is to use this for passport photos.
Passports are likely the strictest, most important ID that most people will ever own. The reason the photos have strict requirements is to ensure that the ID can be effective. Putting a photo of not you on your passport is such a huge self-own.
It's also not just about whether your passport authority accepts the photo, it's about whether every single border you cross accepts it, and crossing a border in a country you aren't a citizen of is about the worst place to have your ID questioned.
> Do not change your photo using computer software, phone apps or filters, or artificial intelligence.
and many other countries have similar requirements.
EDIT: I just read the "Common Questions" that says: "This editor crops and centers the photo you provide and can replace the background. It does not invent or beautify a face." I guess that's not as bad then. Still mildly iffy and weird marketing though.
You are vastly underestimating how vain people are. Will 10% of people change their appearance on official documents just to look better? Yes, certainly.
I used it a few weeks ago for a renewal. You upload the HEIC from your iPhone and it turns it into a jpeg with the appropriate resolution. The editor gives you the ability to make minor adjustments to the algorithmic changes it made, and then tells you that a human will review to ensure it meets the standard.
To be honest, the process was very well done, and the new passport was in my mailbox 5 days later without paying anything for expedited shipping.
I would assume most of the countries nowadays do this at least if you apply in home country, it can be different in embassy abroad, I remember taking photos of my year old kid born abroad, good luck with that in embassy (the trick is taking photo from above while kid is looking up laying on some white sheet).
In the US the passport applicant must provide their own photos as part of the application. I recall having to do this in Ukraine and Hungary for residency applications as well but in those countries they take the photo that ends up on the document. By contrast the US prints the actual photo you provide onto the physical passport.
For this reason vain people (like me) may pay a photographer a few dollars to take a photo that is at least well lit and doesn’t appear to have been taken in a morgue.
I would not risk using an AI tool to adjust the photo. If the photo were to fail a facial recognition match against my actual face for some reason I would not enjoy having to explain myself at every border crossing for the next ten years.
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[ 0.20 ms ] story [ 36.7 ms ] threadPassports are likely the strictest, most important ID that most people will ever own. The reason the photos have strict requirements is to ensure that the ID can be effective. Putting a photo of not you on your passport is such a huge self-own.
It's also not just about whether your passport authority accepts the photo, it's about whether every single border you cross accepts it, and crossing a border in a country you aren't a citizen of is about the worst place to have your ID questioned.
> Submit the original, unchanged photo.
> Do not change your photo using computer software, phone apps or filters, or artificial intelligence.
and many other countries have similar requirements.
EDIT: I just read the "Common Questions" that says: "This editor crops and centers the photo you provide and can replace the background. It does not invent or beautify a face." I guess that's not as bad then. Still mildly iffy and weird marketing though.
[1] https://travel.state.gov/en/passports/apply/help/photos.html
To be honest, the process was very well done, and the new passport was in my mailbox 5 days later without paying anything for expedited shipping.
For this reason vain people (like me) may pay a photographer a few dollars to take a photo that is at least well lit and doesn’t appear to have been taken in a morgue.
I would not risk using an AI tool to adjust the photo. If the photo were to fail a facial recognition match against my actual face for some reason I would not enjoy having to explain myself at every border crossing for the next ten years.
Don't understand why this was allowed to be submitted to HN.