Slashdot Mirror
Hacking Big Brother With Help From Revlon
skids writes "All those futuristic full-face eyeliner jobs in dystopian cyberpunk fiction might not be that far off the mark. A New York University student spent his thesis time exploring computer vision technology (OpenCV) for ways in which one could confound first-stage algorithms that initially lock onto faces. Then he mixed in a bit of fashion sense to predict future geek chic. Now, whether you want to go for the coal-miner look just to stay out of the data mine, that's up to you."
There's no hacking involved, and the word hacking wasn't even necessary for sensationalism's sake. Seriously, I know people write misleading headlines to get eyeballs, but a perfectly accurate title could have been just as enticing: how about "Evading Big Brother with Help from Revlon?" Isn't evading about as interesting as hacking, Big Brother-wise?
Even when they could be honest, accurate, and interesting the Slashdot editors simply don't bother. Why?
Whatever happened to just wearing a ski mask when committing a "crime"? I'm not sure I'd feel less silly painting my face than simply putting on a mask.
Whats the point of bypassing facial recognition if you've still been recorded in a manner that could identify you? It would help abate real-time face-triggered alerts, but not much else.
If people start doing this, I predict it would only be a matter of time before the police would categorize anyone with a painted face as a possible terrorist threat, such as how the ski mask is considered now.