So I had researched it a while ago and don’t recall having found anything effective and non-suspicious to protect from public camera mass survaillence in cities and the like. Is there anything that is a good option for that yet, and if so, could you point me toward it?
May I suggest revolution?
Are there any AES countries without mass surveillance though? Honest quesion.
Revolution doesn’t have to recreate the currently existing systems in other parts of the world. Every social order was brand new at some point.
While I agree, it seems a little ironic given your username
…No? Communism is the brand new social order I’m talking about that is yet to come about.
There is no effective technical solution for political problems. If you find one, it will soon be outlawed or rendered ineffective (eg if you wear mask and sunglasses, prepare to be harassed by law enforcement). Lobbying to stop unconstrained surveillance is the only option.
IR blocking sunglasses are the simplest and most practical solution.
Facial recognition systems compare the distance ratios between your eyes and nose primarily. Hiding your eyes is very effective towards fucking that up. A mask alone is typically not enough.
Sunglasses alone are not enough either. Modern face recognition tech is way better than just distance ratios
Got any further info about these more advanced methods?
I haven’t seen anything beyond the feature distance models. I have seen the models that essentially recreate you entire anatomy in 3D, place it in a database, then use that profile to match to in the future–almost like a 3D match move artist would do for visual effects. Not sure if this is just a proof of concept though.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the millimeter wave scanners at airports have been collecting 3D models of us for this database over the last decades.
I don’t have any specific technical info. I just know that even 3 years ago the face recognition tech in Moscow could successfully match people even with sunglasses on.
The question is whether they were using infrared to see through normal sunglasses. IR blocking sunglasses prevent “night vision” from seeing through the lenses. Under infared, you can see through normal dark sunglasses like they aren’t even there.
I’d guess they probably just have a big blackbox ML image model now. A lot of computer vision tasks are being replaced by blackbox models.
You need to own a few copies of face recog software, and practice with face restructuring latex makeup which gives you a new realistic face with a new bone structure.
Change walking gate. Get shoes with small platforms to change height, learn to walk naturally on those.
Change mannerisms.
It’s doable, but a major pain to pull it off.
Like imagine quickly applying the latex makeup, walking in front of your own identical face recognition camera at home, take everything off, rest, repeat, 10 times a day, 300 days a year, for 10 years. Until it is second nature. Now you can rely on this to do serious work.
You have to create a new person, basically. Assuming you practiced well and tested everything against real software, you can now be a different person for some hours in a reliable way. Once your secondary identity is exposed you’ll need a new tertiary identity. Never do anythiny fishy as your base identity.
The real solution is political, like everyone else has said. Because you won’t be able to fool the system casually without a massive effort and practice, practice, practice on your own property first, before you rely on this for real work in the wild.
Handheld scanning infrared laser, 5 to 50 watts Basically laser-clean the sensor out of existence
deleted by creator
electronics and industrial supply places, you can rip it off a diode based laser cutter but they’re very chonk, if you’re handy, you’d get just the diodes, lens and then make your own PCB with powersupply. You need adjustable because the light has to be in focus at the distance between you and the camera or else it will be to diffuse to disable the sensor, both too short and too far. You don’t really need a galvo head in this case just mount the pcb on something that can randomnly vibrate the laser in a small radius at the effective distance. You won’t be able to hit the camera sensor steady, you need to paint over it randomnly, with the right focus it will work even on rare occasionnal hits since those sensor are very sensitive to laser light
In the past, individuals have cut down red light and speed cameras using power saws. Are you suggesting a laser would be easier to just burn the pixels of the camera? Wouldn’t that be dangerous for people around you?
Yes, it is dangerous even the reflections off the camera could be dangerous. This requires the same awareness of others as handling a laser cleaner.
Here is an article about using a pulse laser to blind a camera sensor
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physics/articles/10.3389/fphy.2024.1345859/full
Artillery strikes on the data centers
I asked Andi
Recent advances in facial recognition technology have sparked development of various counter-surveillance clothing and accessories. These anti-surveillance methods fall into several key categories:
Physical Alterations and Clothing
- Patterned clothing with complex designs that confuse facial recognition algorithms[1]
- Reflective materials that bounce back infrared light used by security cameras[1:1]
- Special scarves and hoodies designed to break up facial features[1:2]
- The “Camera Shy Hoodie” with embedded IR LEDs that overexpose security camera footage[2]
- Cap_Able brand clothing with patterns designed to deceive recognition systems[3]
Technical Solutions
- Infrared LED glasses that blind facial recognition cameras while remaining invisible to human eyes[1:3]
- Anti-surveillance devices that emit signals to interfere with camera sensors[1:4]
- Reflectacles privacy eyewear that blocks IR cameras[4]
Professional Applications
- Small reflective dot stickers used for motion tracking and high-speed camera detection[5]
- Camera obscura techniques used by photographers and artists[6]
Law Enforcement Concerns
- Police forces are expanding use of facial recognition vans and technology[7][8]
- Civil liberties groups argue the technology shows racial bias and privacy concerns[9]
- West Yorkshire’s Crime Commissioner states that facial recognition data “will not be stored”[7:1]
Sources:
Luxand - How to Fool and Avoid Facial Recognition in Public Places ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Maker Faire Rome - Fabric to deceive facial recognition systems ↩︎
BBC - ‘Facial recognition can make mistakes, it’s not a decision-maker’ ↩︎ ↩︎
Facebook - Digital face recognition camera van in Albany Rd ↩︎
Yahoo/Telegraph - Facial recognition cameras at Notting Hill Carnival ‘are racially biased’ ↩︎
.
Because Andi is until now the most privacy centric and reliable one of all I’ve tested since almost 3 years, it was the first ever search AI on the market, 5 Years ago, former called Lazyweb.ai, years before. Own LLM not biased by big companies. Developed by a small startup of 2 devs.
…We’re a small team of two founders (Angela and Jed) and some friends. We’re on a mission to unbreak the Internet and save the world from spam, misinformation and ad tech.
Search is broken because of misinformation, SEO spam and ads, and surveillance capitalism. It hasn’t changed in 20 years. Things are getting worse. The rise of GPT-based chatbots that confidently generate accurate-sounding “BS” with made-up sources is driving misinformation through the roof.
