Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Japanese CCTV Camera Can Scan 36 Million Faces/Second

Posted by timothy on from the once-met-alex-jones-at-mt-carmel-compound dept.

An of-course anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from the always-fun Infowars.com: "A new camera technology from Hitachi Hokusai Electric can scan days of camera footage instantly, and find any face which has EVER walked past it. Its makers boast that it can scan 36 million faces per second. The technology raises the spectre of governments – or other organisations – being able to 'find' anyone instantly simply using a passport photo or a Facebook profile. The 'trick' is that the camera 'processes' faces as it records, so that all faces which pass in front of it are recorded and stored instantly. Faces are stored as a searchable 'biometric' record, placing the unique mathematical 'faceprint' of anyone who has ever walked past the camera in a database."

5 of 115 comments (clear)

  1. The future by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    And here I was thinkin' that the level of surveillance seen in GITS wouldn't be seen in my lifetime...

    1. Re:The future by Internetuser1248 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      There are alternatives if you don't want to wear a mask. Some of these are also less likely to get you hassled by the police. Someone should make a version of these face paint techniques that uses national flags and national team colours, then everyone will just assume you are a sports fan.

  2. Re:Misleading Headline... by RNLockwood · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I agree but it searches for a set of records that have some kind of a close match and doesn't stop with the first "hit" a la CSI.

    Wonder why there was no mention of the false positive and false negative rates? Perhaps they are a little too high?

    --
    Nate
  3. No expectation of privacy by cpu6502 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    In a public area.

    So maybe it's time to amend the Constitution. "The government or its agents shall not track people's whereabouts, except when a warrant has been obtained through a judge, and supported by oath or affirmation."

    --
    My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
  4. Re:Won't work for smart criminals/terrorists by Gaygirlie · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Indeed. However, there are still ways of fooling them with makeup and a few bits of silicone, and both are easy to apply and take off. For example adding a wee bit of skin-coloured silicone on your cheekbones and forehead totally changes how you look. Then apply some slightly darker blush on your cheeks and eyesockets and you'll look like an entirely different person. Then just wipe the makeup on your sleeve, pick the silicone off with your fingers and you'll be your old self in less than 30 seconds.