Face swap

Face swap is a narrow kind of synthetic media. The source is a face, often from a profile photo or a class picture. The target is another image or a live camera. Apps market it as a filter. The output can still identify the person, which is why a joke and a deepfake are the same file type with a different intent.

Kids do this because the button is labeled fun. The harm shows up when the new picture is cruel, sexual, or shared as if it were a real photo of that person. Intent does not pull a file back from a group chat.

Schools see face swaps used to mock a student's body or to fake a scene at a party. The pictured student did not agree. Agreement matters even for a joke. A rule of no real faces in generated images is easier to enforce than a rule about good taste.

Parents who post clear, front-facing photos make swapping easier. That is not a reason to blame the family for someone else's abuse. It is a reason to think before the next public album, and to know the report path if a swap becomes intimate.

HeyOtto's image tools are for age-filtered creation, not for swapping a real classmate's face onto another body. Do not upload someone else's photo for that purpose. Parents can read the prompt and can turn image generation off per child. Schools can turn it off by grade. Public sharing needs parent approval. If a face swap elsewhere becomes an intimate image of a minor, report it to NCMEC and do not recreate it in HeyOtto to show someone what happened.

• Use a description of an imaginary character, not a photo of a real child.
• Revoke a public link if a project includes a face it should not.
• HeyOtto does not replace NCMEC or a platform removal request.