{
  "id": 3165342,
  "title": "Microsoft AI watermarks in Paint and Photos are linked to user IDs, researcher finds",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/microsoft-ai-watermarks-in-paint-and-photos-are-linked-to-user-ids-3165342",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-08-25T00:10:51.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Register",
    "slug": "the-register",
    "url": "https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/08/25/microsoft-ai-watermarks-in-paint-and-photos-are-linked-to-user-ids-researcher-finds/5292034"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Microsoft has implemented AI watermarks in its Paint and Photos applications to comply with Europe's AI transparency rules. These watermarks involve embedding a server-issued GUID linked to the user's prompt that created the image. While Microsoft has disclosed its AI safety measures, it has not provided sufficient clarity that its Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) manifests contain a GUID tied to user AI image prompts. This approach has raised privacy concerns, as it could potentially enable Microsoft to identify users based on the watermark in their AI-generated images. Other companies, such as Meta and OpenAI, are also exploring similar watermarking technologies to address AI safety and transparency concerns.",
  "summary": "Privacy? Not if you use hosted AI services",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Register Science",
        "title": "Microsoft AI watermarks in Paint and Photos are linked to user IDs, researcher finds",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/microsoft-ai-watermarks-in-paint-and-photos-are-linked-to-user-ids",
        "published": "2026-08-25T00:10:51.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}