The app was designed to enable doctors to share pictures of their patients, both with each other and with medical students. So far, more than 150,000 doctors have uploaded case photos with the patient’s identity obscured. However, some experts have expressed concern about patient confidentiality.
Patients’ faces are automatically obscured by the app but users must manually block identifying marks like tattoos. Each photo is reviewed by moderators before it is added to the database. Founder Dr Josh Landy told the BBC that the Figure 1 service did not access any patient records. "We do not possess any personal medical data at all. The best way to keep a secret is not to have it. We are not an organisation that delivers healthcare," he told the BBC.