Image Source: Visual China

BEIJING, February 21 (TMTPOST) — A number of users of Chinese social media Douban reported online that Douban added an almost-transparent watermark on its website, which could reveal account information if users take screenshots on Douban’s website.

The watermark included account information such as UID, TID, time and date (with a specified time zone). The watermark is almost transparent on the website but can be seen if users turn on the night mode on their browser. Users can also discover the watermark if they select the entire website with their mouse. The watermark can also be found if users edit screenshots of Douban’s website and change the background color. The watermark will include users’ UID if they have logged into their account when browsing the site. The watermark will show only TID and time when users are not logged in.

The watermark could allow Douban to trace the origin of screenshots of its site.

Netizens on social media are divided on this matter. Some argued that the watermark could protect intellectual property and protect users’ privacy, while some argued that Douban should not use information-leaking watermark that anyone could find to regulate its platform.

Douban has responded to the news report, explaining that the watermark function was launched to protect users’ privacy and intellectual property in private groups on its platform. The screenshots unfortunately revealed user information because of system errors, which had been fixed, according to Douban.  

Douban recently launched the feature to prevent users from stealing content from private groups on its platform.

Group managers can turn on the function on the group management panel. When the function is on, the system will encrypt account information into screenshots that are taken. The encrypted information includes user ID, post ID and screenshot time.

After taking a screenshot in a group with the function on, users will receive a notification informing them that the screenshot contains information on its original source.