Cloaks is a fun and easy way to protect sensitive photos from snooping eyes. When you Cloak a photo, it is split into pieces that are randomized to camouflage the caption. Each image is Cloaked using a different algorithm, which is subsequently encrypted, meaning that the risk of a leak is extremely low.
As opposed to competing solutions, Cloaks has been designed assuming that private images will occasionally end up in the wrong hands. This is why we manipulate the original image rather than simply mask or hide it in another location. Also, Cloaks never saves the original, but only temporarily renders it on the screen by using key coordinates to reshuffle pieces back to their original position.
We aim to set a new standard for shared content, starting with photos across social solutions, and our upcoming release will include an in-app sharing feature.
We developed a solution for protecting sensitive photos using two restrictions:
(1) It should not be a problem if the photo falls into the wrong hands, and;
(2) The solution should be compatible with existing platforms/solutions in terms of storage and sharing - meaning that the format of the protected photo should not change.
Our solution is to split the original photo into pieces which are then randomized to mask the image content. The greater the number of pieces, the less visible the caption.
The end result is a Cloaked image saved in PNG format. The original image is never saved, but only temporarily rendered on the screen by using key individual coordinates to reshuffle the pieces to their original position. The coordinates are stored on the device, but encrypted with one of the Advanced Encryption Standards and a PBKDF2 function, with the user's password as one of the inputs.
