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8 methods for bypassing surveillance cameras and facial recognition software

Facial recognition systems are becoming more sophisticated. When we post a photo on Facebook accompanied by our closest friend, it is almost certain that the system will identify our faces and suggest us to add a tag.  According to ethical hacking specialists, governments around the world and private companies are driving the creation of a massive facial database that could be useful for various purposes, a practice too invasive for people’s privacy.  

Surveillance is the main motivation of
governments for the use of facial recognition. An example is airport security;
countries such as the United States and Brazil are implementing this technology
to prevent terrorist attacks. Other governments, such as China,
are paving face recognition for the systematic surveillance and repression of
some minority groups.

Below, ethical hacking specialists from the
International Institute of Cyber Security (IICS) list several methods to bypass
facial recognition systems and protect our privacy.

Facial jewelry

A group of designers started a project they
have defined as “facial jewelry”. One of the designs consists of two
brass circles that hang from the cheekbones and cross the forehead of the
wearer; in addition to being a fashion trend, it is designed to prevent facial
recognition software from detecting the person’s face. These designs have
proven to be functional against Facebook
face detection system.

Bright lenses

According to experts in ethical hacking, Japan’s
National Institute of Computing developed these lenses that include a set of
nearly infrared (invisible to the human eye) LED lights that project a layer of
light to protect the user against detection most surveillance and monitoring
equipment. These glasses were strategically designed to illuminate the area around
the user’s eyes and nose, making it impossible for infrared light-sensitive
cameras to detect their face.

Reflectacles

Thanks to the initiative of Scott Urban, a
small Businessman from the U.S. the idea of ‘Reflectacles’, a pair of
anti-facial recognition glasses, was born. For example, the Reflectacles Ghost
model is able to reflect the invisible and infrared lights projected against
the user’s face, so cameras that work with this technology will be unable to
record the face features of the wearer.

IRpair glasses

Another part of the Reflectacles Project, the
IRpair anti-facial recognition goggles feature specially designed optical
filters to prevent infrared radiation from reaching the user, allowing free
passage of the natural light spectrum. In addition, IRpair’s technology also
prevents practices such as iris scanning, three-dimensional mapping of facial
features and infrared lights, making the cameras perceive your face just as an
empty space.

A pair of conventional sunglasses does not
protect us against facial recognition systems, as ink-obscured lenses become
clear with the use of infrared light. Instead, IRpair lenses turn dark in the
presence of infrared light, completely blocking the capabilities of such cameras
using this technology, ethical hacking experts mention.

Phantom glasses

Phantom goggles technology prevents facial
recognition by using a material capable of reflecting infrared lights, as well
as preventing infrared security cameras from performing biometric analysis of
your face. Like IRpair glasses, the frame of Phantom glasses only reflects the
infrared spectrum, allowing visible to human eye light passing through.

IRclip glasses

Entrepreneur Scott Urban thought of an
alternative approach to the IRpair and Phantom glasses, which are based on
preventing three-dimensional mapping and reflection of infrared lights. The
IRclip glasses allow the user to choose between the lenses called
“IRdark” and “IRlight”, whose functions depend on the
lighting conditions in which the user is located. Whether exposed to too much
light, or there is not a single light illuminating it, these goggles will
prevent the proper functioning of biometric sensing systems.

Hyperface Clothing

Another option to prevent facial detection
systems from infringing our privacy is to overload them with images that these
systems detect as faces, hiding the true face of the user. This is the idea
that motivated the entrepreneurs of the Hyperface Project, who have created
prints for clothes and accessories with “fake faces”. The use of
Hyperface clothing will make the work of detection systems more difficult,
making monitoring and monitoring more complex.

Before posting on Facebook,
apply FaceShield to your photos

Users may want to share their photos online,
which is fine, but we can do this without exposing ourselves to facial
recognition software detection. For this, ethical hacking
experts recommend resorting to using a tool called FaceShield. This software
works as a filter that the user must apply to their photos before sharing them
on a social media platform; its developers claim that by modifying minimal
elements in photography, users’ faces will be harder to detect for machine
learning tools on sites like Facebook. These changes are virtually invisible to
the human eye.

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