Google's SynthID and similar AI tools embed hidden tracking data, not just watermarks
A new report highlights that Google's SynthID and comparable systems from OpenAI and other tech firms embed invisible signals into images, audio, text and video that go beyond simple authenticity marks. These 'spymarks' can carry encoded database identifiers—potentially linkable to a user's name, IP address, birthdate or political affiliation—rather than just flagging content as AI-generated. Research on SynthID-Image shows a 512x512 image can carry a 136-bit payload, enough for a 64-bit unique identifier plus error correction.