Slashdot Mirror
Public Facial Recognition Is Making Gains In Surveillance
dryriver writes in with a link to a Times story about the U.S. government's capabilities when it comes to facial recognition. "The federal government is making progress on developing a surveillance system that would pair computers with video cameras to scan crowds and automatically identify people by their faces, according to newly disclosed documents and interviews with researchers working on the project. The Department of Homeland Security tested a crowd-scanning project called the Biometric Optical Surveillance System — or BOSS — last fall after two years of government-financed development. Although the system is not ready for use, researchers say they are making significant advances. That alarms privacy advocates, who say that now is the time for the government to establish oversight rules and limits on how it will someday be used. There have been stabs for over a decade at building a system that would help match faces in a crowd with names on a watch list — whether in searching for terrorism suspects at high-profile events like a presidential inaugural parade, looking for criminal fugitives in places like Times Square or identifying card cheats in crowded casinos."
Wearing a mask is rather blunt. I think surveillance evading camouflage make-up instead will turn out to be a fashion trend during the next decade.
As with any trend, only a handful of people would dare walk around looking like that at first - privacy supporters, activists, etc. - and they would stand out in the crowd. But the idea of camouflage might catch on as more people opted-in (some because of privacy concerns, others because it just looks cool and futuristic). Kind of like torn jeans and facial piercings from punk - they used to look shocking to some a while back, but nowadays are completely mainstream and disconnected from the originating subculture.
CTU showed this technology like two years ago. Even works on vending machine reflections.
Yes it is old inconsequential news but that is a feature not a bug. The Times really really really needed a security surveillance state "story" to try and keep itself semi relevant in the eyes of their readers but at the same time not bite the hand that feeds them (i.e. more than a cosy relationship with the goverment).
Wait, what? Do you honestly believe that if an incentive is there that sentient organisms will not reach for it? I have a strong moral compass but that doesn't change the fact that you need to stop whatever the fuck you are doing right now to help us reengineer "the game" in order to reward people that do good while doing well. Aside from NWO fantasies, all the assholes that have money right now are extremely interested in keeping it, at all costs. This includes your family's ability to be healthful or be educated to a basic level. I think it was Peter Drucker that said "If you can't measure it, then you can't manage it." They are fucking managing you. How does it feel?