File · no faces
No face leaves here.
Noppera is a mobile app that blurs faces and erases the metadata of your photos and videos, on your phone, without sending anything anywhere. Pick a file or share it from your gallery: processing starts on its own.
Coming soon on iOS and Android How it works
noppera
Jobs · 4
- IMG_2041.jpg Done
- VID_0087.mp4 In progress
- IMG_2039.jpg Waiting
- VID_0071.mp4 Error
01 · Why
A face can't be changed.
You change a password after a leak. You never change a face. Every photo or video you publish carries faces that anyone can copy, archive and compare for years, long after you deleted it from your account.
And faces are not the only leak: most files also carry the GPS position, the phone model, the date and the time. One unmasked face or one forgotten coordinate is enough to point at someone.
Noppera exists so that this gesture, masking faces and cleaning the file, takes ten seconds and goes through no server.
02 · The name
Where does the name come from?
The nopperabō (のっぺら坊) is a spirit from Japanese folklore: “the smooth fellow”, a being with an empty face, no eyes, no nose, no mouth. In “Mujina”, a tale collected by Lafcadio Hearn in Kwaidan (1904), a merchant meets a weeping woman on a hillside. She turns around: her face is smooth.
In the tale, it is frightening. For a person who was filmed without choosing it, it is the opposite: a smooth face cannot be recognised. That is what Noppera does. Its symbol, a solid crescent and a sphere of pixels, shows that smooth face turning into pixels.
03 · How it works
Three gestures, on your phone.
Choose
Pick a photo or video from your library, or share it to Noppera from your gallery, without opening the app first.
Noppera processes
Every face is masked, and the metadata (GPS position, device, date) is erased. Everything happens on the device, as soon as a file is added or when you ask: a video's sound is removed by default, or kept if you choose.
Collect
Tap the result to view it full size, then save it to your library or as a file: nothing leaves the app until you choose. In the list, each status has a word and an icon, never colour alone.
The app is in testing and not yet published on the stores. On Android, videos are not processed yet.
04 · Limits
What Noppera does not do.
An anonymisation tool that promises too much puts people at risk. Here is what to know before relying on it.
- It can miss a face. In profile, very small, blurry, partly hidden or badly lit: always check the result before publishing.
- It only handles faces. A tattoo, a licence plate, a piece of clothing, a reflection or a voice stay.
- Hiding a face does not make you anonymous. The setting, the clothes, the voice and the context can be enough to identify someone.
- A video is processed frame by frame. A face missed on a single frame remains identifiable. Noppera keeps each mask for a third of a second after the last detection, but always check the video before publishing it.
05 · Comparison
Which tool for which need?
Signal, Image Scrubber, ObscuraCam, Anonymous Camera and Noppera do not do the same thing. A factual, dated comparison, with sources.
06 · FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
What is Noppera?
Noppera is a mobile app for iOS and Android that masks faces and erases the metadata of your photos and videos. It is designed to process everything on the phone, with no account and no server. It is an Ombra tool, developed by the BREIZHZION association. It is not published yet.
How do I blur the faces in a video without uploading it to a server?
You need a tool that runs face detection on the phone itself. Noppera is designed that way: the video is analysed and processed frame by frame on the device, and the result stays in the app until you save it to your gallery or as a file. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Which metadata does Noppera erase?
The metadata embedded in the file: GPS position, device model, date and time of capture. It can reveal where and when an image was taken, even when no face appears in it.
Can a blurred face be recovered?
A light blur can sometimes be partly undone by image processing. An opaque fill or a very coarse pixelation is safer. Noppera's rule is to leave no recognisable face; still, always check the result, because no detection is perfect.
Is blurring a face enough to make someone anonymous?
No. The setting, the clothes, the voice, a tattoo or the context can be enough to recognise someone. Masking the face reduces the risk, it does not remove it.
What happens if Noppera misses a face?
It can miss some, especially in profile, very small, blurry or half hidden. In a video, a face missed on a single frame remains identifiable. That is why you must check the result before publishing.
Can I send a video from the gallery straight to Noppera?
Yes, that is planned: Noppera appears in the gallery's Share menu, and the file is added to the list and processed without having to open the app first.
How is it different from Signal, Image Scrubber, ObscuraCam or Anonymous Camera?
Signal only handles photos, inside its own messenger. Image Scrubber is a browser tool for photos. ObscuraCam is an Android app whose repository has not been updated since June 2022. Anonymous Camera is an iOS app built for capture. Noppera targets the photos and videos already in your gallery, on iOS and Android. The details are in the comparison.
07 · Ombra
An Ombra tool.
Noppera is one of the tools of the BREIZHZION association for people and groups who are exposed, alongside NoiseCrypt. Same colours, same fonts: you can tell the family.