EFF Suggests Halloween Costume To Protest Facial Recognition Databases (eff.org)

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EFF Suggests Halloween Costume To Protest Facial Recognition Databases (eff.org)

Posted by EditorDavid on Sunday October 30, 2016 @11:34PM from the treats-or-tricks dept.

An anonymous reader writes: EFF's list of costume ideas for digital rights activists include a Stingray costume, dressing up like a Privacy Badger (or a patent troll), and using facepaint to simulate the eerie digitization algorithms that are currently capturing images of your face for government databases. "Just this week we learned that facial recognition is far more prevalent among local and federal law enforcement than we thought, with at least 26 states using this biometric technology... To draw attention to this emerging threat to privacy, you can use your face painting skills to recreate the digitization algorithms on your own mug based on public records we and others have obtained from law enforcement agencies."
Sixteen states already grant the FBI access to their DMV databases, reports EFF, noting that it's "almost completely unregulated," with one study reporting that 50% of American faces are already in a government database.

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GNAA - GAY NIGGERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-30 23:44 · Score: -1

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1. Re:GNAA - GAY NIGGERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 00:40 · Score: 0
  
  Man, it's been a long time since I've seen a GNAA post. I was beginning to wonder if these guys were still around.
Be the life of the party! by CajunArson · 2016-10-30 23:44 · Score: 3

Because the real spirit of Halloween is protesting things.

--
AntiFA: An abbreviation for Anti First Amendment.
1. Re: Be the life of the party! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-30 23:51 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Actually, it is. It's a remnant of the poor drunkenly demanding stuff from the rich during the end of the year harvest festival.
2. Re: Be the life of the party! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 00:12 · Score: 0
  
  We call it election season here in the States.
  But it seems to work in reverse most of the time.
3. Re: Be the life of the party! by rmdingler · 2016-10-31 00:27 · Score: 1
  
  Halloween has evolved from a Pagan celebration into the second greatest kid's holiday of the year. "Seriously, they have to give you candy if you ask!"
  It was never favored by the early American Puritans, and only gained popularity with the mass Irish and Scottish immigration in the 1800s. Churches today still frown upon it, and religious-sponsored alternatives to Trick or Treat are offered nearly every place I've lived.
  Evidently, the one belief in the supernatural is enough for any congregation.
  
  --
  Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
  Ernest Hemingway
4. Re:Be the life of the party! by gatkinso · 2016-10-31 00:30 · Score: 1
  
  Don't forget dressing in a skimpy outfit.
  
  --
  I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
5. Re: Be the life of the party! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 01:01 · Score: 0
  
  Hence why Christmas exists.
6. Re:Be the life of the party! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 01:15 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  I dunno, reminding people of how far our privacy has been invaded should prove fairly scary.
7. Re:Be the life of the party! by PopeRatzo · 2016-10-31 01:20 · Score: 1
  
  Because the real spirit of Halloween is protesting things.
  Halloween has always been a way of protesting the Church, at least as long as it's been called "Halloween".
  
  --
  You are welcome on my lawn.
8. Re:Be the life of the party! by Oswald+McWeany · 2016-10-31 01:22 · Score: 2
  
  That's why Jesus died for a second time on the cross on Halloween. To give girls the right to wear skimpy "sexy ______" costumes.
  
  --
  "That's the way to do it" - Punch
9. Re:Be the life of the party! by Pseudonymous+Powers · 2016-10-31 01:35 · Score: 2
  
  That's why Jesus died for a second time on the cross on Halloween. To give girls the right to wear skimpy "sexy ______" costumes.
  "Wow, I didn't think the costume designers could actually do it, but I have to admit, that is indeed a really sexy blank."
10. Re: Be the life of the party! by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2016-10-31 01:44 · Score: 2
  
  Which was also stolen from pagans.
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
11. Re: Be the life of the party! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 02:00 · Score: 0
  
  I'm thinking about moving to the equator. That will kill the "magic of Christmas" for good.
12. Re: Be the life of the party! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 02:41 · Score: 1
  
  The Puritans didn't favor anything remotely connected to fun. They even banned Christmas because fuck celebrating and having a meal with friends and family you should be at work.
13. Re: Be the life of the party! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 02:42 · Score: -1
  
  Actually, it is. It's a remnant of the poor drunkenly Democrat voters demanding stuff from the rich during the end of the year harvest festival.
  AKA "the election"
  "Pay your fair share!" - "Gimmee GIMMEE GIMMEE!!!!
14. Re:Be the life of the party! by alvinrod · 2016-10-31 04:20 · Score: 1
  
  At least in Western Christianity, Halloween is typically celebrated as All Saints' Day, but like most other Christian festivals it has roots farther back into Pagan festivals that existed long before Christianity did. I think that the idea of it being a way of protesting churches was more of a byproduct of businesses trying to find a way to capitalize on the holiday than anything on the part of people looking to protest for its own sake. Either that or it has that connotation because Europe kicked out most of their hardline Christians of the day who ended up in the U.S. and there's still a bit of puritanical thought that permeates the broader culture.
15. Re:Be the life of the party! by LifesABeach · 2016-10-31 04:38 · Score: 1
  
  I think about all the time and money spent recognizing a person's face. Yet the same algorithm cannot recognize a pencil from a spoon; I could do something useful with that.
16. Re:Be the life of the party! by amicusNYCL · 2016-10-31 07:09 · Score: 1
  
  There are various guides to creating stingray costumes out of towels or bedsheets, and all you'd need to do is add a little antenna or a cell phone on a makeshift fishing pole. If you're in a pinch, though, just grab a cardboard box, roll it around on the ground, and you've a "dirtbox," another form of cell-site simulator manufactured by the Boeing subsidiary Digital Receiver Technology.
  "Hey, Bob, thanks for showing up. You're holding a box, what did you bring?"
  "I didn't bring anything, this is my costume. This is not just "a box", as you can clearly see it has dirt on the outside from rolling it around on the ground. It is not "a box", it is "a dirtbox". As we all know, "dirtboxes" are devices that emit a strong, and nefarious, cell tower signal, which will cause some nearby cell phones to attempt to connect if the signal is stronger than the one they are receiving from the nearest legitimate cell tower. The operator, such as the US Marshall Service, can use this device to identify nearby cell phones, thus collecting personal information, or simply jam cell phone traffic in the vicinity. The device is produced by a Boeing subsidiary called Digital Receiver Technology, or DRT for short, hence the name "dirtbox", and is a serious threat to our privacy.
  Where did everyone go?"
  
  --
  "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
17. Re:Be the life of the party! by unixisc · 2016-10-31 07:46 · Score: 1
  
  One suggestion - go wearing an RMS mask, and spray yourself w/ BO so that you'll have a mile radius stench around you
18. Re: Be the life of the party! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 07:50 · Score: 0
  
  How the hell does one "steal" Christmas, outside of Whoville?
19. Re:Be the life of the party! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 08:47 · Score: 0
  
  The empress' new costume?
20. Re:Be the life of the party! by PopeRatzo · 2016-10-31 09:01 · Score: 1
  
  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...
  
  --
  You are welcome on my lawn.
21. Re:Be the life of the party! by Fear+the+Clam · 2016-10-31 13:31 · Score: 1
  
  That's why Jesus died for a second time on the cross on Halloween. To give girls the right to wear skimpy "sexy ______" costumes.
  And frog.
22. Re: Be the life of the party! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 19:14 · Score: 0
  
  It dos not work. I lived in the south hemisphere, and you see santas sweating like pigs inside their costumes, with 35 degrees Celsius (about 95 F).
  It is very hard to kill when there is a big economical incentive.
Not for the US by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-30 23:45 · Score: -1

If you're in the US, don't follow this advice. Most states have anti-mask laws and you'll just end up in jail, like most Americans.
1. Re: Not for the US by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-30 23:46 · Score: 0
  
  Only if you're black as well.
2. Re:Not for the US by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-30 23:53 · Score: 0
  
  If you're not familiar with anti-mask laws, these were an attempt to supress the KKK, but, like most laws, there are unintended consequences so children in Alabama and Mississippi can't celebrate Samhain.
3. Re:Not for the US by No+Longer+an+AC · 2016-10-31 00:28 · Score: 2
  
  I can't vouch for the accuracy of this site, but it looks like most of us are okay although I have seen signs in convenience stores before telling people that masks were not allowed inside.
  State Codes Related To Wearing Masks
  Some states that do have laws have exemptions, like Minnesota:
  
  unless based on religious beliefs, or incidental to amusement, entertainment, protection from weather, or medical treatment
4. Re:Not for the US by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 00:45 · Score: 0
  
  Jersey Mike's here in the midwest is the only store I've seen with a sign that says no masks allowed.
5. Re:Not for the US by 110010001000 · 2016-10-31 01:15 · Score: 1
  
  There are no anti-mask laws in the United States.
6. Re:Not for the US by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 01:19 · Score: 0
  
  Thanks for that link.
  A good mask law:
  CALIFORNIA Penal Code Section 182-185
  185. Section One Hundred and Eighty-five. It shall be unlawful for any person to wear any mask, false whiskers, or any personal disguise (whether complete or partial) for the purpose of: One--Evading or escaping discovery, recognition, or identification in the commission of any public offense. Two--Concealment, flight, or escape, when charged with, arrested for, or convicted of, any public offense. Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.
  Additional crime to use a mask but wearing a disguise while doing nothing unlawful is no problem
  A bad mask law:
  GEORGIA Code Title 16 - Crimes and Offenses,16-11-38.
  (a) A person is guilty of a misdemeanor when he wears a mask, hood, or device by which any portion of the face is so hidden, concealed, or covered as to conceal the identity of the wearer and is upon any public way or public property or upon the private property of another without the written permission of the owner or occupier of the property to do so.
  Now allowed.
  They look a little clustered in the southeast. KKK legacy laws?
7. Re:Not for the US by Oswald+McWeany · 2016-10-31 01:22 · Score: 2
  
  Jersey Mike's here in the midwest is the only store I've seen with a sign that says no masks allowed.
  I'd be ashamed to walk into a Jersey Mike's without wearing a mask.
  
  --
  "That's the way to do it" - Punch
8. Re:Not for the US by Pseudonymous+Powers · 2016-10-31 01:38 · Score: 1
  
  Jersey Mike's here in the midwest is the only store I've seen with a sign that says no masks allowed.
  I'd be ashamed to walk into a Jersey Mike's without wearing a mask.
  Yeah, but that gets too confusing, because the staff there is generally trying to conceal their shame already. If the let us wear masks, too, nobody would know who the customers were.
  Mmm, inexplicably wet sandwich.
9. Re:Not for the US by Kierthos · 2016-10-31 01:47 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Uh, yes there are. I mean, I don't think there are any "no masks whatsoever, under no conditions at all, we mean it" laws, but there are laws that prohibit masks.
  http://law.lis.virginia.gov/va...
  
  --
  Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
10. Re:Not for the US by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 02:07 · Score: 0
  
  Wow, that law actually makes it illegal to protest facial recognition without revealing your face in the process in most circumstances unless in a traditional holiday costume. That's possibly the very reason the EFF specified using Halloween costumes in particular rather than just suggest wearing a mask, as the other exceptions are unlikely to apply to most protestors. Thanks for the link.
11. Re: Not for the US by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 02:21 · Score: 0
  
  Well, white mask then!
12. Re:Not for the US by drew_kime · 2016-10-31 02:49 · Score: 1
  
  Mmm, inexplicably wet sandwich.
  As opposed to Subway, where it's explicably wet: http://tosh.cc.com/blog/files/...
  
  --
  Nope, no sig
13. Re:Not for the US by Fnord666 · 2016-10-31 03:34 · Score: 1
  
  The violation of any provisions of this section is a Class 6 felony.
  They even made it a felony!
  
  --
  'The tyrant will always find pretext for his tyranny.' - Aesop's Fables
14. Re:Not for the US by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 04:08 · Score: 0
  
  In defense of people who enjoy Jersey Mikes's I'll vouch that they're still fairly "new" here in the midwest which means the staff is still white, articulate, and food fresh.... for now. Unfortunately it looks like they're going the way of Jimmy John's whom have been here over a decade and gone from yummy to complete shit once the stores were converted over to serve the bottom line, not the customer.
Simple solution by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 00:31 · Score: 0

If your picture is in any database, send them the bill for leasing it.
1. Re:Simple solution by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 02:35 · Score: 0
  
  Some people, (such as Tura Satana) has the rights to their own likeness and image. Don't know how you arrange that - but then you're indeed capable of billing anyone using your image or likeness. The biometric data is the essence of "likeness" - its whole purpose is identification.
Here's a thought... by Type44Q · 2016-10-31 00:59 · Score: 1

Perhaps if we were to draw dick pics on our faces, it might confuse these systems into identifying us as an altogether different species...
1. Re:Here's a thought... by Oswald+McWeany · 2016-10-31 01:23 · Score: 1
  
  The computer would think we're all lawyers.
  
  --
  "That's the way to do it" - Punch
2. Re:Here's a thought... by RavenLrD20k · 2016-10-31 02:34 · Score: 0
  
  ... it might confuse these systems into identifying us as an altogether different species...
  
  The computer would think we're all lawyers.
  (Score:-1, Redundant)
3. Re: Here's a thought... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 02:44 · Score: 0
  
  The computer would think we were Anthony Weiner and try to seize Hillary's email from us.
paper bags over the head by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 01:02 · Score: 0

are probably the standard daily dress of many slashdotters anyhow.
1. Re:paper bags over the head by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 02:07 · Score: 0
  
  Muslims prefer black cloth to brown paper.
2. Re:paper bags over the head by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 02:13 · Score: -1
  
  And you prefer black cocks.
That Makes the US Government ... by lazarus · 2016-10-31 01:03 · Score: 1

... the many-faced god. Come to think of it, both organizations operate in eerily similar ways...

--
I am not interested in articles about life extension advancements.
These will be great by GameboyRMH · 2016-10-31 01:06 · Score: 2

If you're going to the Halloween meeting of your local Linux user group...otherwise, not so much.

--
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
what part of Cthulhu fhtagn don't you understand? by Thud457 · 2016-10-31 01:08 · Score: 1

1. take a photo of your own face.
2. run it through google deep dream
3. inkjet print the result in makeup directly on your face
4. spend Halloween as a slutty beholder.

--
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Murica!!! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 01:15 · Score: 1

But 'murica is "land of the free, home of the brave." Until one attack happens and then it becomes "home of the sissy cucks afraid of their shadows."
EFF suggests ways for the gov to tag you.... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 01:21 · Score: 0, Insightful

Which side are these guys on...
Name one time a 'protest' ever changed anything? Get real people. You either learn to stand up for your rights and learn how to apply proper pressure, or go home and stop wasting everyone's time.
1. Re: EFF suggests ways for the gov to tag you.... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 02:45 · Score: 0
  
  The protest at the Democratic National Convention in 1968 changed a LOT.
2. Re: EFF suggests ways for the gov to tag you.... by PPH · 2016-10-31 03:18 · Score: 1
  
  Changed what exactly? I could never actually figure out what they were arguing for or against.
  
  --
  Have gnu, will travel.
3. Re:EFF suggests ways for the gov to tag you.... by kwbauer · 2016-10-31 05:37 · Score: 1
  
  Well, there was this one time that a group of individuals set about protesting the fact that the government had confiscated all of their personal weapons which that government actually deemed (at that time) to be personal property and allowable to be kept by its citizens and the point of the protest was to have them returned. Around that same time some other citizens were also protesting something about tax stamp requirements.
  A not-so-careful reading of history suggests that a whole lot changed as a result of those protests.
Even without a database... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 01:22 · Score: 0

... I am pretty sure I recognize a facial when I see it.
DoD using facial recognition by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 01:42 · Score: 0

I went to my local military base hosting an Oktoberfest event earlier this month and was surprised to see the facial recognition camera set up to scan as people rounded the entrance queue.
You inse8sitive clod!! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 02:16 · Score: -1

And soLd in the (Click Here notorious Op3nBSD 'YES' TO ANY
PA won't do RealID by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 02:34 · Score: 0

Pennsylvania legislators passed a law to prevent PennDOT from cooperating with the government's RealID program. As a result, soon a PA driver's license will no longer be accepted as ID for domestic air travel.
Protest as much as you like. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 02:39 · Score: -1

You will be ignored (like with the CETA protests) or you will be dealt with (as with OWS). Any effort to resist the will of the Ruling Elite is futile.
If you want to scare people by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 02:52 · Score: 1

Run face recognition on them and project their Facebook profile, or their browser history if you feel ambitious.
appsforsys by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-31 02:54 · Score: -1

Hi,
This is very nice and good, thanks for sharing. your blog is looking great.
pizap 2
Only 50%?? by JustAnotherOldGuy · 2016-10-31 03:17 · Score: 1

"...with one study reporting that 50% of American faces are already in a government database"
I'd be surprised if it was only 50%. Just between the DMV and Facebook (which the NSA admits they mine for data) I think it'd be higher than that.
There are about 214 million licensed drivers in the U.S. according to Statista (https://www.statista.com/statistics/191653/number-of-licensed-drivers-in-the-us-since-1988/). That's about 67% of the 319 million people in the US as of 2014.
If the NSA admits to mining Facebook, it's reasonable to think they're probably mining other social media sites like Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc etc.
Add Facebook and all the other social media sites that get mined and I wouldn't be surprised to find 80 or 85% of American faces are in a government database.

--
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...