a few key points... Most programs compare around 45,000 unique points on the face. The average system then cross-checks this biometric data with the profiles of 13 million other faces... all in the blink of an eye. Most people make the task of facial recognition even easier... They flood the web with their pictures. Social media websites like (the aptly named) Facebook and LinkedIn are chock-full of “mug shots.” If you want more privacy, there is a solution...
attention. Other techniques attempt to distort the distances between measured facial points. A smiling face is markedly different from a deadpan facial structure. That’s why you’re not allowed to smile when taking ID photos. I think the most ingenious technique of all is to utilize infrared lights. One nine-volt battery can power these for days on end. The bulbs are pea-sized and emit no visual light... but to a facial-recognition camera, bright streams of infrared light will cloud out a person’s face.
80% of the photos in the FBI’s network are of
people without any criminal history.
The technology is not foolproof. But to the right are some ways to thwart facial recognition. Now, some of these techniques will attract quite a bit of attention. They may even single you out for closer scrutiny. But on second glance, many of these techniques are more innocuous than they appear... Some of these techniques try to
WAYS TO AVOID FACIAL RECOGNITION
Wear a low-lying hat
Grow out facial hair
Wear big, dark glasses
Wear a clear plastic mask
Put on dark eyeliner or “eye black” used by some athletes
Comb hair strands down into your face
Tilt your head more than 15 degrees to the side
cover up facial features. Beards and dark glasses do this without garnering extra
Smile
Attach LED infrared lights to eyeglasses or headwear
American Consequences 37
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