BACKGROUND

Parental control software is often utilized on computing devices to restrict various activities considered to be inappropriate for children or other vulnerable users. For example, parental control software may be installed by parents or other responsible parties on a child's mobile device to monitor and/or restrict the use of certain applications utilized for sending messages or accessing potentially inappropriate website content.

Conventional parental control software, however, often lacks the capability of monitoring and restricting activities involving the use of mobile devices in the physical space, such as the growing trend of taking self-portrait images (i.e., “selfies”) in dangerous environments by underage (e.g., under twenty-one years of age) or other vulnerable users. In particular, the taking of selfies in high altitude, high velocity, overwater, and/or other hazardous environments may often result in serious injuries and/or fatalities as a result of these users seeking to create disconcerting or alarming images in an effort to impress others (e.g., over social media).

SUMMARY

As will be described in greater detail below, the present disclosure describes various systems and methods for restricting capture of self-portrait images on mobile devices.

In one example, a method for restricting capture of self-portrait images on mobile devices may include (i) capturing, by one or more computing devices, sensor data associated with a surrounding environment, (ii) detecting, by the one or more computing devices, a user input for taking one or more self-portrait images, (iii) determining, by the one or more computing devices and based on the sensor data, one or more potential hazards associated with the taking of the self-portrait images within the surrounding environment, and (iv) performing, by the one or more computing devices, a security action to protect against the potential hazards associated with the taking of the self-portrait images within the surrounding environment.

In some embodiments, the sensor data associated with the surrounding environment may include (i) geographic location data (e.g., mountains, bodies of water, etc.), (ii) elevation data (e.g., mountain peaks, buildings, etc.), (iii) velocity data (e.g., a current rate of travel), (iv) and/or environmental data (e.g., safety hazards such as an area where heavy machinery is being operated, low light conditions, etc.). In some examples, the user input detected for taking the self-portrait images may be a user-initiated action for opening a mobile device camera application on a mobile computing device.

In some embodiments, the potential hazards associated with the taking of the self-portrait images within the surrounding environment may be determined by (i) retrieving geofence data describing one or more previously identified hazardous areas and (ii) determining the potential hazards when the sensor data corresponds to the previously identified hazardous areas in the geofence data. Additionally or alternatively, the potential hazards associated with the taking of the self-portrait images within the surrounding environment may be determined by analyzing the sensor data to identify (i) a potential fall hazard within the surrounding environment, (ii) a potential drowning hazard associated within the surrounding environment, or (iii) a potential a vehicular hazard (e.g., a moving car or train) within the surrounding environment.

In some examples, the security action to protect against the potential hazards associated with the taking of the self-portrait images within the surrounding environment may include (i) generating an alert that warns a mobile computing device user of the potential hazards associated with the taking of the self-portrait images within the surrounding environment, (ii) requesting an acknowledgment of the alert from the user, and (iii) sending the alert to another party (e.g., a parent, guardian, or other responsible party via a parental control application) when the acknowledgment of the alert has been discarded by the user. Additionally or alternatively, the security action to protect against the potential hazards associated with the taking of the self-portrait images within the surrounding environment may include restricting the taking of the self-portrait images by (i) imposing an age-based criteria to restrict the taking of self-portrait images on a mobile computing device (e.g., to prevent children from taking selfies in an unsafe environment or previously identified geofenced area), (ii) limiting the taking of the self-portrait images to a predetermined number of images (e.g., a parent, guardian, or other responsible party may limit the number of selfies a child may take on a mobile computing device), and/or (iii) disabling (e.g., via a parental control application) a mobile device camera application utilized for taking self-portrait image on a mobile computing device.

In one embodiment, a system for restricting capture of self-portrait images on mobile devices may include at least one physical processor and physical memory that includes computer-executable instructions and a set of modules that, when executed by the physical processor, cause the physical processor to (i) capture, by a capture module, sensor data associated with a surrounding environment, (ii) detect, by a detection module, a user input for taking one or more self-portrait images, (iii) determine, by a determining module and based on the sensor data, one or more potential hazards associated with the taking of the self-portrait images within the surrounding environment, and (iv) perform, by a security module, a security action to protect against the potential hazards associated with the taking of the self-portrait images within the surrounding environment.

In some examples, the above-described method may be encoded as computer-readable instructions on a non-transitory computer-readable medium. For example, a computer-readable medium may include one or more computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, may cause the computing device to (i) capture sensor data associated with a surrounding environment, (ii) detect a user input for taking one or more self-portrait images, (iii) determine, based on the sensor data, one or more potential hazards associated with the taking of the self-portrait images within the surrounding environment, and (iv) perform a security action to protect against the potential hazards associated with the taking of the self-portrait images within the surrounding environment.

Features from any of the embodiments described herein may be used in combination with one another in accordance with the general principles described herein. These and other embodiments, features, and advantages will be more fully understood upon reading the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and claims.

