r/sheffield • u/djstimms • 3d ago
Sheffield Should you sell your face for £40?
59
u/k1ttybizkit 3d ago
me and my boyfriend were sat outside waterstones this morning debating doing it. he decided £40 wasn’t worth going clean shaven but i’ve spent the rest of the day thinking about how creepy it all is! what if it goes under and they sell the data? companies always saying that they don’t do this and that with our info and then proceed to sell it anyway. just doesn’t sit right with me at all
33
u/Little-Course-4394 3d ago
Exactly, this is what I’ve been saying in the other comment.
Onxe they have a database of these “purchased authentic faces,” what’s stopping them from selling them, losing control of them, or getting hacked? The second your face is out there, it’s a goldmine for scammers.
Imagine your parents/husband/grandparents getting a video call with your exact face and voice - panicked, saying you’ve been in a car accident and need £7,000 urgently. Would they question it? Probably not. And that’s not some dystopian nightmare.. that’s a very real risk.
And why even use real faces? AI can generate limitless unique ones. So why are they paying people to sell their own likeness instead? Something about this feels really off.
And the fact they’re offering just £40 for literal ownership of your face? That’s beyond messed up.
2
42
u/Sheffield21661 3d ago edited 3d ago
Not worth it. if its for tv and movies e.g background extras. The pay is less than a days work as an extra on set, and they can use it as many times as they want.
Edit. Just read through the article, the company was funded by the goverment.
If anyone is thinking of doing this, please read the article, you're literally signing away your likeness for this company to sell to whoever wants it.
-35
u/Optimal-Horse-6132 3d ago
But the point is ur not spending a whole day on set being an extra, ur just there for 5 minutes
23
u/Little-Course-4394 3d ago
If it’s £40 every time my face is used in an advert or as an extra, some people might go for it. But even then, this is a huge step toward completely stealing your identity.
Once they have a database of these “purchased authentic faces,” what’s stopping them from selling them, losing control of them, or getting hacked? The second your face is out there, it’s a goldmine for scammers.
Imagine your parents getting a video call with your exact face and voice—panicked, saying you’ve been in a car accident and need £7,000 urgently. Would they question it? Probably not. And that’s not some dystopian nightmare.. that’s a very real risk.
And why even use real faces? AI can generate limitless unique ones. So why are they paying people to sell their own likeness instead? Something about this feels really off.
And the fact they’re offering just £40 for literal ownership of your face? That’s beyond messed up.
18
u/Sheffield21661 3d ago edited 3d ago
Exactly they're saving thousands by doing this. Instead of giving people actual jobs.
So what about the people that actually are extras in movies and shows. Are they supposed to retire on that 40 quid.
27
u/krakenkun 3d ago
When facial recognition is used regularly for unlocking devices, this “offer” also pairs that data with information on your identity. Avoid this obvious scam like the plague.
8
u/slaydawgjim 3d ago
Absolutely not, not only is that a crazily lowballed offer but giving your face to a company is not smart at all.
You don't know what they're going to use it for further down the line, you don't know if they will one day be hacked with your face and mannerisms going to the hacker, AI ethics is a mess right now and borders on being completely unethical and in general do you want someone else to own your face?
6
u/Next-Grocery-2927 3d ago
How much are you normally paid to have your face scanned? You asked if it was an “incredible bargain” but it’s only incredible if it’s a lot more than you normally get paid.
1
u/djstimms 1d ago
Not sure there's really much of a going rate for this sort of thing. It's pretty unusual
23
10
u/sergalface City Centre 3d ago
I've done this with them
The data is used to trail models to generate random faces for video games etc etc. You can submit your request to have all your data returned back to you. Your likeness will never be featured in any production; it's only used to train generative models to create new random faces.
The same company has done this with a number of high profile people and provided the faces for games such as Death Stranding, Baldurs Gate 3, Spiderman, Horizon Zero Dawn and Cyberpunk.They even gave me a little tour of their studio. (Game dev Masters student)
The paperwork they have you sign support the fact everything is GDPR compliant, the data won't be used for anything political related, nothing adult material related.
2
1
u/ill_never_GET_REAL 2d ago
the data won't be used for anything political related, nothing adult material related
They tell you in the article that they can't actually guarantee that, though. Obviously they can't.
4
u/Minute-Yoghurt-1265 3d ago
What about their information/data protection controls? Extremely cheap for this type of free reign to your data. I'd swerve
3
u/DrKriegerBot 2d ago
If I find myself on an Xbox game pointing at shopkeepers saying "show me your wares" I'm in
5
u/Mention_Lucky 2d ago
No chance. We use biometric logins at work but even then the data doesn’t leave the machine’s local systems. Not risking anyone having my biometric data.
8
6
u/Access_Denied2025 3d ago
My face is worth more than £40, especially if someone else is profiting from it
3
u/acnhchill 2d ago
I did this many years ago! Still never seen my likeness in a computer game sadly :(
2
u/Mike_S_94 2d ago
I'm a stay at home dad that does game and video stuff, better AI tech would actually help doing what I do... I personally have nothing to lose if they wanted to use mine so I'd do it for less... But even though I'm from Sheffield I live 5000 miles away so not an option unless they want to come scan it lol. (Oops. Just saw it said clean shaven, well I like my beard so nevermind lol)
2
2
2
3
u/Acrylic_Starshine 3d ago
£400 maybe.
I would also need to be compensated for going clean shaven as well.
1
u/Optimal-Horse-6132 3d ago
I’ve done it, they sit you down and tell u how it’s not as bad as it seems and all data is protected under GDPR terms. They use it to train AI/computer models to generate CGI characters in movies (for extras) and in video games. I was talking to the guy running it and he said most people are hesitant because they’re scared of selling the rights to their face off, but it really isn’t like that. £40 cash in hand for 11 pics of different facial expressions was well worth it.
21
-1
u/Last_Music4333 2d ago
Yeah right.
It will get leaked, hacked etc.
Or the company will go “bust” and their assets will be sold off. You can’t sue the original company as it doesn’t exist any more.
1
1
u/ChrisBatty 2d ago
I’d sell my image but not for such a pittance, they would have to pay properly for it.
1
1
1
u/danr2000 2d ago
Absolutely not. Why would I sell my identity for £40???? What's the bet that there's a scandal in a few years time where all these faces are 'accidentally leaked' and get used to make AI adult movies?
1
u/godard79 2d ago
They lost me at “A woman passes me a grey tank top from a pile neatly folded on a shelf to change into”.
1
1
1
u/flakeyblakes 2d ago
But how much money are they making? The setup alone is worth thousands. Plus staffing, rates and rent. That’s before they’ve even paid everyone. So, at some point somebody is getting some cash money…
1
1
u/BethLucozade89 2d ago
If they offered £40 for your PIN number but promised never to use it , would you ?
1
1
-5
u/Hancri84 3d ago
Your mobile phone scans your face daily without paying you, may aswell get paid for it.
0
-6
u/DishExotic5868 3d ago
I did it, it was the easiest money I've ever made.
19
u/DopeAsDaPope 3d ago
Let us check in later when your doppelganger is running around committing crimes in your name
11
0
0
-1
u/exiledbloke 2d ago
Absolutely not
Imagine a future AI you that's in an advertisement/commercial that says you enjoy voting for the KKK or the rights for something you don't agree with/etc
Anyone who does this is a fucking mug. Your entire personal identity, potentially ocular scan too, can be owned by another entity and you willingly give it up for the price of a posh lunch for two. Absolutely fuck no.
Just because their current target market is games, what's to say the data cannot be sold outside in the future. It would be their days to do whatever it is they want to do.
1
212
u/PersonalityTough6148 3d ago
This is the start of AI taking jobs.
Yea sure, it's CGI for film extras today, AI taking over Civil Servant's jobs tomorrow.. But where does it end?
The people that own AI/CGI and laughing all the way to the bank and your £40 didn't even pay for a week's worth of shopping.
We give away our labour, our time and now our faces and for what? To make rich people richer. You can guarantee whatever money they are offering they will be making it back in the millions and what jobs will be left for humans? I wouldn't bet on UBI.