Do we have a good solution for public survaillence cams and Facial Recognition yet?
from basiclemmon98@lemmy.dbzer0.com to privacy@lemmy.ml on 14 Sep 20:34
https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/53296467

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?

#privacy

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damnthefilibuster@lemmy.world on 14 Sep 20:39 next collapse

Lemon juice? /s

eager_eagle@lemmy.world on 14 Sep 21:12 collapse

context, for the unaware

en.wikipedia.org/…/1995_Greater_Pittsburgh_bank_r…

bmpvy@feddit.org on 14 Sep 22:23 next collapse

Thanks for sharing, what an amazing read^^

lattrommi@lemmy.ml on 15 Sep 13:59 collapse

I’ve never seen an explanation as to why the guy thought that the lemon juice would work. Did someone tell it to him that or did he come up with it himself.

Younger me recalls (incorrectly) that they used lemon juice on the film in the first Star Wars movie, as a special effect to blur the base of the land speeder so it appeared to be hovering. They actually used vaseline, smeared on the lens, not the film, plus had mirrors under the vehicle too. I had told this lemon juice ‘fact’ to several people before someone finally corrected me.

My memory was wrong and I wonder how I came to that conclusion. Maybe I watched a ‘behind the scenes’ show on how they did the special effects, and they said it wrong. Maybe it was a show that presented the use of lemon juice in some other tangentially related special effect and I mixed the two up. Maybe I had read an article about using lemon juice to distort picture film in the developing process.

I wonder if that bank robber did the same mistake but with far worse consequences. The time frame of the robbers mistake was around the same time as my confusion as well.

gmgmgm@lemmy.world on 15 Sep 23:39 collapse

I’m thinking it’s a conflation with a basic “invisible ink” made with lemon juice.

You write a message in lemon juice on paper; the juice dries clear, then you can heat the paper to darken the juice and make the message legible.

themeatbridge@lemmy.world on 14 Sep 20:57 next collapse

Covid masks can be effective, and it’s not as suspicious as asymmetrical makeup or a reflective hoodie. But no, there’s no good way to avoid being photographed in public.

SendMePhotos@lemmy.world on 14 Sep 21:42 collapse

I read somewhere they they can identify you typically with about 35% of your face.

umbrella@lemmy.ml on 14 Sep 22:51 next collapse

glasses and face masks it is then

rumba@lemmy.zip on 15 Sep 01:04 next collapse

Yeah, a high-res image giving the position of ears, eyes, and nose is damning.

ears and eyes alone give you a shocking amount of identifyability. We’re getting real fucking close to the CSI levels of facial identification.

Droggelbecher@lemmy.world on 15 Sep 12:33 collapse

Who knew my sensory issues having ass was relatively safe all along between my noise cancelling over ears, sunglasses and COVID masks

rumba@lemmy.zip on 15 Sep 14:09 collapse

You’ll still have to be careful they’re targeting people with sensory issues and neurodivergence next.

Droggelbecher@lemmy.world on 15 Sep 14:13 collapse

I’m not American, but yeah I’m staying vigilant

rumba@lemmy.zip on 15 Sep 14:15 collapse

I hope to hell we’re not infectious, but I worry for everyone, everywhere, eventually. I’m afraid we’re just ahead of the curve.

icelimit@lemmy.ml on 15 Sep 10:08 collapse

Mask and sunglasses? Then put random things in your shoe everyday to change your gait?

plyth@feddit.org on 14 Sep 21:13 next collapse

Don’t forget that when you walk the length of your bones can be measured which can be used to identify you.

damnthefilibuster@lemmy.world on 14 Sep 21:38 next collapse

Is that part of gait measurement or separate from it?

plyth@feddit.org on 15 Sep 11:55 collapse

That depends on what gait measurement entails to you. I would think so but Wikipedia says that it is just movement analysis.

irmadlad@lemmy.world on 14 Sep 21:41 next collapse

I guess we can all join The Ministry of Silly Walks.

FauxLiving@lemmy.world on 14 Sep 21:52 collapse

Walk on the front of your foot, the process require you to intentionally concentrate on your gait which causes it to change

Not that you can do it all of the time, but it is a way to defeat gait fingerprinting.

scytale@piefed.zip on 15 Sep 00:27 next collapse

Walk without rhythm.

<img alt="" src="https://media1.tenor.com/m/g-E1XFe_c4MAAAAd/sand-walking-dune-2.gif">

machiavellian@lemmy.ml on 15 Sep 08:02 collapse

Just as normal sunglasse don’t fool facial recognition systems, modern gait recognition systems can’t be defeated by “just altering how you walk”. You can read more about it on The Hitchhikers Guide to Online Anonymity. There is this research paper.

They link a specific device which can fool some systems, but a bit easier (although more inefficient) is just wearing very loose clothes that cover the movement of your muscles.

irmadlad@lemmy.world on 16 Sep 01:50 collapse

You can read more about it on The Hitchhikers Guide to Online Anonymity.

Which I highly recommend everyone read at least 10 times. LOL There is a vast amount of information to digest.

favoredponcho@lemmy.zip on 14 Sep 22:38 collapse

Yea, but there is a database of peoples faces matched to their names. There is not a database of their bone lengths to the names. That measurement would be done after you were already under suspicion.

[deleted] on 16 Sep 06:40 collapse

.

irmadlad@lemmy.world on 14 Sep 21:41 next collapse

Mask or neck gator, dark shades, toboggan hat or head scarf/wrap that covers your ears. Ears are just about as identifiable as fingerprints.

birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 14 Sep 21:51 next collapse

Long hair also.

turdburglar@piefed.social on 15 Sep 16:27 collapse

wouldn’t want to be mistake for ice tho

irmadlad@lemmy.world on 16 Sep 00:36 collapse

Thing is, none of the suggestions in this thread would be used singularly against you. For instance, your gait, unless you genuinely are a member of The Ministry Of Silly Walks. LOL They will use these profiles as complimentary evidence. When all the cards line up, DING! you’re selected as a person of interest.

Tell him what he’s won Johnny!

frongt@lemmy.zip on 14 Sep 21:42 next collapse

A hammer?

frightful_hobgoblin@lemmy.ml on 14 Sep 21:44 next collapse

May I suggest revolution?

sic_semper_tyrannis@lemmy.today on 15 Sep 04:35 next collapse

Came here to suggest that. We need to gather sentiment

balsoft@lemmy.ml on 15 Sep 06:50 collapse

Are there any AES countries without mass surveillance though? Honest quesion.

communism@lemmy.ml on 15 Sep 08:23 collapse

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.

BlueBockser@programming.dev on 15 Sep 15:06 collapse

While I agree, it seems a little ironic given your username

communism@lemmy.ml on 15 Sep 15:51 collapse

…No? Communism is the brand new social order I’m talking about that is yet to come about.

anomnom@sh.itjust.works on 16 Sep 13:47 collapse

Should pick a new name for a new order then.

Maybe commonism.

birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 14 Sep 21:52 next collapse

For surveillance cams:

Cover them up and destroy them with drones.

dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de on 14 Sep 21:54 next collapse

IR LEDs around your hat or glasses but I believe some cameras can filter out IR.

floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 14 Sep 23:08 next collapse

Don’t mind me, just rocking my battery-powered hat

dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de on 15 Sep 07:03 collapse

It’s to power the AI obviously 😂

rumba@lemmy.zip on 15 Sep 01:07 collapse

Yeah, no dice, the better sensors these days don’t have any problem with that. Check out Project Farms recent doorbell camera review. He actually walks up to the doorbell camera with a full on flashlight in the pitch black of night and they still have no problem.

helix@feddit.org on 14 Sep 22:00 next collapse

You mean, a solution against CCTV, right? RIGHT?

medicsofanarchy@lemmy.world on 14 Sep 22:51 next collapse

Picture of Trump?

irmadlad@lemmy.world on 16 Sep 01:52 collapse

In 71 years on this planet, I have only managed to genuinely hate two people with a visceral and vociferous hatred…and he is one.

mugita_sokiovt@discuss.online on 14 Sep 23:24 next collapse

Mask, sunglasses (and glasses that block IR), slight deviations in movement patterns, and GETTING OUT OF THE CITY.

brownmustardminion@lemmy.ml on 15 Sep 03:18 next collapse

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.

balsoft@lemmy.ml on 15 Sep 06:53 collapse

Sunglasses alone are not enough either. Modern face recognition tech is way better than just distance ratios

brownmustardminion@lemmy.ml on 15 Sep 22:46 collapse

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.

balsoft@lemmy.ml on 16 Sep 11:48 next collapse

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.

brownmustardminion@lemmy.ml on 16 Sep 13:38 collapse

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.

sobchak@programming.dev on 16 Sep 13:12 collapse

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.

DrunkAnRoot@sh.itjust.works on 15 Sep 05:56 next collapse

mask with dark sunglasses or a ski mask with dark sunglasses

balsoft@lemmy.ml on 15 Sep 06:48 next collapse

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.

minorkeys@lemmy.world on 15 Sep 07:06 collapse

If there is no other option than lobbying then there is no real option. The public has rarely ever effectively lobbied for their interests.

balsoft@lemmy.ml on 15 Sep 13:21 next collapse

I wouldn’t be so pessimistic. When more people personally experience survelliance abuse, things will get interesting.

fubbernuckin@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 16 Sep 03:33 collapse

I think the public is staggeringly bad at advocating for their own interests.

umbrella@lemmy.ml on 16 Sep 01:07 next collapse

may i suggest revolution?

twice_hatch@midwest.social on 16 Sep 03:42 collapse

Press forward

m532@lemmygrad.ml on 15 Sep 09:15 next collapse

Artillery strikes on the data centers

Highlow@piefed.social on 15 Sep 09:27 next collapse

Horse mask should work

hector@lemmy.today on 15 Sep 14:47 collapse

Gorilla mask. Or one of those 6 foot tall bunny costumes. Or uncle sam ala carnivals a hundred years back.

willington@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 15 Sep 10:34 next collapse

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.

surph_ninja@lemmy.world on 15 Sep 16:36 collapse

It depends on the surveillance coverage. If it’s widespread enough, they can track you between your departure and arrival locations. You’d also need two more disguises for both entering and exiting.

And of course, if you have a cell phone on you that pings anything, the jig is up.

birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 16 Sep 11:09 collapse

For the cell phones, faraday cages would be a solution.

Zerush@lemmy.ml on 15 Sep 12:35 next collapse

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[^4]
  • Reflective materials that bounce back infrared light used by security cameras[^4]
  • Special scarves and hoodies designed to break up facial features[^4]
  • The “Camera Shy Hoodie” with embedded IR LEDs that overexpose security camera footage[^14]
  • Cap_Able brand clothing with patterns designed to deceive recognition systems[^16]

Technical Solutions

  • Infrared LED glasses that blind facial recognition cameras while remaining invisible to human eyes[^4]
  • Anti-surveillance devices that emit signals to interfere with camera sensors[^4]
  • Reflectacles privacy eyewear that blocks IR cameras[^8]

Professional Applications

  • Small reflective dot stickers used for motion tracking and high-speed camera detection[^1]
  • Camera obscura techniques used by photographers and artists[^11]

Law Enforcement Concerns

  • Police forces are expanding use of facial recognition vans and technology[^7][^13]
  • 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]

Sources:

[^1]: Amazon - Golf Club & Golf Ball Reflective Dot Stickers [^4]: Luxand - How to Fool and Avoid Facial Recognition in Public Places [^7]: BBC - ‘Facial recognition can make mistakes, it’s not a decision-maker’ [^8]: Reflectacles - Ghost Privacy Eyewear & Sunglasses [^9]: Yahoo/Telegraph - Facial recognition cameras at Notting Hill Carnival ‘are racially biased’ [^11]: Wikipedia - Camera obscura [^13]: Facebook - Digital face recognition camera van in Albany Rd [^14]: Mac Pierce - The Camera Shy Hoodie [^16]: Maker Faire Rome - Fabric to deceive facial recognition systems

agile_squirrel@lemmy.ml on 15 Sep 12:58 collapse

As an unrelated question, why do you use Andi instead of other privacy centric AI such as Duck.ai, Lumo, Brave AI, etc? I’m not familiar with Andi so I’m curious.

Zerush@lemmy.ml on 15 Sep 13:17 collapse

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.

Statement:

…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.

Privacy policy

<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.ml/pictrs/image/a9b92d7b-90e9-45a8-940b-19bae4aacaa6.png">

interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml on 15 Sep 23:48 next collapse

Handheld scanning infrared laser, 5 to 50 watts Basically laser-clean the sensor out of existence

TheCoralReefsAreDying69@lemmy.world on 16 Sep 00:02 next collapse

5 to 50 watts

And blinding everyone around you too!

interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml on 16 Sep 00:45 collapse

You’re going to need a rather tight beam to hit that camera and it will only for milliseconds. It would take really bad luck to hit someone continuously long enough through a reflection (drastic reduction in power level by then) to damage their eyesight, plus camera optics are not very reflective of infrared as they need it for night vision, so they’re especially sensitive. But yes, this should be treated with the seriousness of a gun.

twice_hatch@midwest.social on 16 Sep 03:41 next collapse

At that point I’d just spray paint them. Much safer, easy to buy in cash, and I assume it costs a lot to send someone to clean it up

StopSpazzing@lemmy.world on 16 Sep 04:23 next collapse

How are you going to spray paint a camera 20ft up?

reversepsychology@lemmy.world on 16 Sep 07:49 next collapse
interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml on 16 Sep 23:27 collapse

Drone, paintball gun, chainsaw, fire

StopSpazzing@lemmy.world on 16 Sep 23:48 collapse

Yeah if that isnt noticed or jammed and traced back to you. Infra lasers are the way to do it with little “noise” and cant be jammed.

interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml on 16 Sep 07:29 collapse

Sure if you have a drone but it’s not nearly as discreet as a fiber+ lens in your sleeve

lime@feddit.nu on 16 Sep 14:06 collapse

they do record, so it will be quite obvious which person suddenly starts looking like a star in the footage.

Auli@lemmy.ca on 16 Sep 15:21 collapse

You know cameras have an IR filter during the day right.

interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml on 16 Sep 23:26 collapse

Even a 1 watt laser will still have enough power after the filter to knock that sensor’s clock right out.
Or just use a red laser, they’re even cheaper, if less discrete.

umbrella@lemmy.ml on 16 Sep 01:06 next collapse

where do i find me one of those

interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml on 16 Sep 01:15 collapse

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

StopSpazzing@lemmy.world on 16 Sep 04:23 collapse

Just add adruino with a distance sensing laser to point it it first to have it adjust focal length of the dangerous laser.

interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml on 16 Sep 07:27 collapse

Yes that makes sense, the range finding sensor from an old cell phone should do nicely.
You can 3d print a geared lens barrel for small M12 lens quite easily.
Just map the values to real gear position and bingo’s your uncle !

grahamja@reddthat.com on 16 Sep 15:02 collapse

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?

interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml on 16 Sep 19:36 collapse

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
www.frontiersin.org/journals/physics/…/full

autonomoususer@lemmy.world on 16 Sep 07:56 collapse

You learning how to make other people directly around you care. Start with the easy stuff, like helping them leave WhatsApp and Discord.