What are the differences between encryption, watermarking and fingerprinting?
Whilst these are all security devices for digital material and the terms are frequently used interchangeably, they are nevertheless three distinctly different protection methods. Encryption works by locking an object file with a ‘key’ and providing that key only to authorised users. Whilst this generally provides a high degree of active security, once an encrypted file is opened, the contents become unprotected and may then be readily edited, copied and disseminated without any further form of control. Watermarking usually places a visible mark on a still or video image. Watermarks can, of course, be removed by image processing applications and, for this reason, do not offer any high degree of protection. They are, however, frequently used as a promotional tool for identifying low resolution view files (of limited commercial value) when used as part of a ‘sampler’ or catalogue. Fingerprinting, also known as hidden watermarking or digital steganography, protects image data at a very dee
