Israeli start-up PhotoFree helps out celebrities by blocking paparazzi

Written on 7th July 2008                                                                                                              1 COMMENT
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

My first claim to (Dutch) Internet fame was a self-shot movie of the Dutch Prime Minister arguing with the No. 1 TV journalist. I just happened to be standing next to them with my camera phone. Although the quality was crap, the movie ended up in the national news – which turned out to be the start of my blogging career. Right in time though, as an Israeli start-up called PhotoFree will make sure the web will see a decline in this kind of paparazzi-like content. A nifty device makes it possible to distort any digital photo taken within a certain distance.

The origin of paparazzi: Fellini’s Dolce Vita

PhotoFree has raised some $900,000 in a seed capital round, led by Israeli company Ofakim Hi-Tech Ventures (OHV) – owned by Capital Point – as well as private investors. The technology is being developed by entrepreneur and researcher Dr. Zeev Zalevsky from Bar Ilan University. He has proved that his idea can become reality, and turned it into a working process. “We’re only at the beginning of the road. This is an idea on paper that we are hoping to develop. We will have more to add at a later stage,” CEO Hila Goldman-Aslan told Haaretz.

Too bad for Perez Hilton and his colleagues…, as they will soon have to switch to the good ol’ analogue camera.

Bar Ilan University, Haaretz, israel, Perez Hilton, Photofree

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