Stalker Finds and Assaults Japanese Celebrity by Looking at Eye Reflections in Selfies

Stalker Finds and Assaults Japanese Celebrity by Looking at Eye Reflections in Selfies

It seems like something out of a tv show, but sadly, it's real life. A stalker found and assaulted a Japanese music star after zooming in on the reflections in her eyes in selfies she posted on social media. 

Ena Matsuoka, a Japanese music star, was attacked outside her home last month by Hibiki Sato, an obsessed fan. Sato dragged her into a dark area and molested her, injuring her face as well. He was arrested on September 17 and admitted to the attack.

What makes the incident even scarier is how Sato found Matsuoka: he zoomed in on the reflections of her surrounding environment in her eyes in selfies she had posted on social media. In doing this, he was able to identify a bus stop and the nearby landscape, which he then used to match to her address on Google Street View. Sato was even able to ascertain the floor Matsuoka lived on based on the windows and the angle of the sun. 

Generally, people and celebrities in particular are advised not to tag the exact location of their home on social media, but as phone cameras continue to get better and better, this is an entirely different and much scarier problem, as I am sure almost no one considers what the reflections in their eyes will show. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

Log in or register to post comments
11 Comments

Sounds like an argument for fewer megapixels and less-sharp lenses.

Instagram with its compression and resolution should be safe. Right?

There's gotta be a job for a guy with such skills somewhere...once he gets out of jail...

Minority Report ?

NSA

great now they're going to ban cameras next

They solved a case like this on CSI Miami. It was pretty laughable back then, about 15 years ago, when they took images from a digital camera (remember, this was in 2004) found at the scene and did the 'ol magical TV "Zoom and Enhance Photo" trick and in a few seconds were able to see the killer reflected in the eyeball of the victim. We've finally caught up with the past!!

Reminds me of a Yashica camera poster from the late 70s or early 80s. The subject was the face of a studio photographer who was shooting a nude. Wish I still had the poster.

Of course, her using dark and over-sized contact lenses to make their iris look bigger was a big help. I still call BS on it. I don't think there's enough detail for that.

This sounds fishy...