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submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

So I had researched it a while ago and don't recall having found anything effective and non-suspicious to protect from public camera mass survaillence in cities and the like. Is there anything that is a good option for that yet, and if so, could you point me toward it?

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[-] [email protected] 72 points 6 days ago
[-] [email protected] 13 points 6 days ago

Came here to suggest that. We need to gather sentiment

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[-] [email protected] 38 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

There is no effective technical solution for political problems. If you find one, it will soon be outlawed or rendered ineffective (eg if you wear mask and sunglasses, prepare to be harassed by law enforcement). Lobbying to stop unconstrained surveillance is the only option.

[-] [email protected] 10 points 6 days ago

If there is no other option than lobbying then there is no real option. The public has rarely ever effectively lobbied for their interests.

[-] [email protected] 7 points 5 days ago

may i suggest revolution?

[-] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago

I wouldn't be so pessimistic. When more people personally experience survelliance abuse, things will get interesting.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago

I think the public is staggeringly bad at advocating for their own interests.

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[-] [email protected] 21 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

You need to own a few copies of face recog software, and practice with face restructuring latex makeup which gives you a new realistic face with a new bone structure.

Change walking gate. Get shoes with small platforms to change height, learn to walk naturally on those.

Change mannerisms.

It's doable, but a major pain to pull it off.

Like imagine quickly applying the latex makeup, walking in front of your own identical face recognition camera at home, take everything off, rest, repeat, 10 times a day, 300 days a year, for 10 years. Until it is second nature. Now you can rely on this to do serious work.

You have to create a new person, basically. Assuming you practiced well and tested everything against real software, you can now be a different person for some hours in a reliable way. Once your secondary identity is exposed you'll need a new tertiary identity. Never do anythiny fishy as your base identity.

The real solution is political, like everyone else has said. Because you won't be able to fool the system casually without a massive effort and practice, practice, practice on your own property first, before you rely on this for real work in the wild.

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[-] [email protected] 9 points 5 days ago

Handheld scanning infrared laser, 5 to 50 watts Basically laser-clean the sensor out of existence

[-] [email protected] 7 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

5 to 50 watts

And blinding everyone around you too!

[-] [email protected] 6 points 5 days ago

You're going to need a rather tight beam to hit that camera and it will only for milliseconds. It would take really bad luck to hit someone continuously long enough through a reflection (drastic reduction in power level by then) to damage their eyesight, plus camera optics are not very reflective of infrared as they need it for night vision, so they're especially sensitive. But yes, this should be treated with the seriousness of a gun.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago

You know cameras have an IR filter during the day right.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Even a 1 watt laser will still have enough power after the filter to knock that sensor's clock right out.
Or just use a red laser, they're even cheaper, if less discrete.

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[-] [email protected] 14 points 6 days ago
[-] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Gorilla mask. Or one of those 6 foot tall bunny costumes. Or uncle sam ala carnivals a hundred years back.

[-] [email protected] 17 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

IR blocking sunglasses are the simplest and most practical solution.

Facial recognition systems compare the distance ratios between your eyes and nose primarily. Hiding your eyes is very effective towards fucking that up. A mask alone is typically not enough.

[-] [email protected] 9 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Sunglasses alone are not enough either. Modern face recognition tech is way better than just distance ratios

[-] [email protected] 4 points 5 days ago

Got any further info about these more advanced methods?

I haven't seen anything beyond the feature distance models. I have seen the models that essentially recreate you entire anatomy in 3D, place it in a database, then use that profile to match to in the future--almost like a 3D match move artist would do for visual effects. Not sure if this is just a proof of concept though.

I wouldn't be surprised if the millimeter wave scanners at airports have been collecting 3D models of us for this database over the last decades.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago

I'd guess they probably just have a big blackbox ML image model now. A lot of computer vision tasks are being replaced by blackbox models.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago

I don't have any specific technical info. I just know that even 3 years ago the face recognition tech in Moscow could successfully match people even with sunglasses on.

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[-] [email protected] 18 points 6 days ago

Mask, sunglasses (and glasses that block IR), slight deviations in movement patterns, and GETTING OUT OF THE CITY.

[-] [email protected] 19 points 6 days ago
[-] [email protected] 5 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

You learning how to make other people directly around you care. Start with the easy stuff, like helping them leave WhatsApp and Discord.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago

IR LEDs around your hat or glasses but I believe some cameras can filter out IR.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago

Yeah, no dice, the better sensors these days don't have any problem with that. Check out Project Farms recent doorbell camera review. He actually walks up to the doorbell camera with a full on flashlight in the pitch black of night and they still have no problem.

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[-] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

For surveillance cams:

Cover them up and destroy them with drones.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago

Mask or neck gator, dark shades, toboggan hat or head scarf/wrap that covers your ears. Ears are just about as identifiable as fingerprints.

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[-] [email protected] 5 points 6 days ago

Artillery strikes on the data centers

[-] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago

mask with dark sunglasses or a ski mask with dark sunglasses

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this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2025
104 points (98.1% liked)

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