The Surveillance State: Artificial Intelligence Facial Recognition

AI Can Recognize Your Face Even If You’re Pixelated

(click on above link to be re-directed to source page)

With the Surveillance State growing by leaps and bounds and a camera on every street corner and passing vehicle, understanding how much Artificial Intelligence can push this invasive technology into overdrive is very important for the Civilian Operator to understand, even if your photo-shop skills are awesome!

In an article I wrote last year, I go over facial recognition software in detail.

I also discuss “Counter-Surveillance” Clothing like CV Dazzle and Camo-Flash currently available to help confuse FR Software.

Stay Alert, Stay Armed and Stay Dangerous!

Being Anonymous in Public Just got a Little Harder

I would like to think my friend Mr. A for sending me this link and picture; he is always on the lookout for interesting “security” issues for the CO and I am grateful for his diligence!-SF

 

This photo was taken in Canada and shows about 700,000 people. 

Pick on a small part of the  crowd click a couple of times — wait —  click a few more times and see how clear each  individual face will  become each time. Or use the wheel on your mouse.

This picture was taken with a 70,000 x 30,000 pixel camera  (2100 Mega  Pixels)  These cameras are not sold to the public and are being  installed in strategic locations by both the U.S. and Canadian Governments.

The camera can identify a face among a multitude of people.

Place your computer’s cursor in the mass of people and double-click a  couple times. Scary sharp!!  Not so easy to hide in a crowd anymore, huh?

So all of this begs the question, what is the CO to do who wants to stay anonymous in the surveillance state? Besides the OLD “Sunglasses, ballcap and wig” trick, what is left for the CO to do?

Technology in this area has progressed slowly but surely, with the top front-runners being AH Projects Camoflash and CV Dazzle.

If one studies the technology used in the Camoflash, instead of a female clutch, the same thing could be used in a ballcap or hat for a man. Both that ideal and a version of the CV Dazzle with LED lights is outlined HERE.

With the Federal Governments stance being that a citizen has “no right to privacy in a public place” the CO is going to have to either become a hermit or else get creative in how they negotiate the surveillance state in 2015 and beyond. As the title picture stated: 1984 was not supposed to be an Instruction Manual!

Stay Alert, Stay Armed and Stay Dangerous!

 

 

21st Century Facial Recognition Software: What the CO Needs to Know

By Hammerhead 

 

With America well on its way to becoming known as “Uncle Snoopy” versus “Uncle Sam”, one has only to look at the current surveillance state of Great Britain to see where most American cities will be in five years. At current count, Great Britain has over 5.9 Million CCTV cameras spread over the entire country, with a majority of those cameras outfitted with Facial Recognition (FR) software. And make no mistake, the Surveillance State is big business. Companies right now all over the world are busy capturing, collating and selling bio-metric data. At last count, the Facial recognition market was estimated at a whopping $1.3 Billion and expected to double by 2022.

Most People are aware of the security applications of FR, but what most folks don’t realize is that FR really “honed” its technical edge in the commercial world. Companies like Facebook, Shutterfly and LinkedIn are currently collecting millions of images of data with Googles FaceNet algorithm currently averaging 99.63% accuracy, while Facebooks DeepFace works 97.25% of the time. Both of these systems consistently outperform the FBI’s own FR software program, which only sports a paltry 85% success rate. It is no surprise then that both Google and Facebook are actively “plying their FR wares” to Uncle Snoopy to improve that percentage.

For those of you out there that still use social media sites like Facebook, you might be interested to know that since 2010 they have been compiling their own “biometric data” collection from over 250 BILLION uploaded images from their users. All of them, by the way, uploaded with the user’s consent (or ignorance of the fact they had the choice to decline). To decline Facebook from using your uploaded images you must navigate through the Privacy Settings to a sub-menu entitled “Who sees tag suggestions when photo’s that look like you are uploaded?” Notice no where in the settings is “Biometrics” or “Facial Recognition” even mentioned once. So much for transparency. You gotta remember folks, Facebook does not make their big money from you, the lowly consumer, they make their money off big-money advertisers, so your data, including your face, is simply seen as a commercial commodity, something that can be bought, sold and traded. Therefore you can see the reason why Facebook and other companies like them have no real incentive to “guard your security”; it just isn’t profitable. OK, so have I convinced you to stop using Social media sites yet?

So we have seen how FR can affect the average, lackadaisical citizen, but what about the criminal? Well, apart from the obvious use in CCTV cameras, technology has advanced by leaps and bounds in the last decade in the area of forensic artistry and DNA analysis. Parabon Nano-Labs at a recent gathering of Law Enforcement Homicide Investigators, revealed their latest break-through: Snapshot DNA Phenotyping. This amazing program can accurately predict both the ancestry and physical appearance of a person from a single DNA sample. Now, all that is needed for the police to make an arrest for a crime (such as murder or rape) is for the criminal to leave behind a scant trace of DNA evidence, and in a very short period of time, regardless if the criminal has prior convictions and is in the system already, a physical likeness can be distributed through an APB and an arrest made. Law Enforcement can also now cut the ID time literally in half in identifying unidentified human remains with DNA phenotyping.

So ultimately where does this leave the concerned citizen who wants to retain some degree of personal privacy in a world where your image is seen as a valuable commodity to be sold and traded to the highest bidder? Some would say privacy is an illusion in the world in which we now live, but I say privacy is still something you have control of, IF you are willing to put the time in to control it. The Government and Companies wanting your money hope you do not put the time in, which is why they make it so darn easy (and free) to use certain apps and software which help them track your buying habits, your location, your hobbies, and of course now, your face.

Controlling your privacy can be approached just like any other self-improvement hobby; depending on how far you want to go with it and what DEGREE you want your privacy at, will determine what products and software you use. No matter how much time you want to put into this however, there is one thing you must do FIRST THING.

STOP USING SOCIAL MEDIA SITES!! and for the love of Pete, STOP downloading photos of yourself and family and posting them online!! I don’t care who is in your “circle” of friends; we have already discussed how Facebook and internet companies as a whole see your images. Sound too extreme? My point exactly. Some people will see it that way, others won’t.

For some CO’s, simply dumping Skype and Facebook along with using a free VPN service like Zen-Mate to mask your IP address and the free TOR browser will suffice. Others will want to go a step further and use Adam Harvey’s line of “Counter-Surveillance Clothing” and other “Privacy” tools such as DNA Spoofing and the Rhizome Commission, which is basically a way to fool a computer algorithm into “seeing” something different from what is presented. I have discussed Harvey’s line of clothing here before with my Drone Series, but since that time, Harvey has come up with some other interesting tools for the privacy conscious CO.

The First is CV Dazzle and Camo-Flash, both very simple ways to confuse FR software within CCTV cameras and “unauthorized” cameras. The third tool is a DNA spoofing technology that creates a “DNA Ambiguity” for the user. This goes right along with the widely held premise that for every “new” technology (like the Snapshot DNA Phenotyping) there will be an equally imaginative “counter” to it.  Lastly, is a very intriguing program that seeks to confuse computer algorithms in facial recognition and image recognition software. The program, called “Rhizome Commission” leans heavily on ambiguity and visual obscurity to create a type of digital camouflage to achieve the desired effect.

Until next time…

Stay Alert, Stay Armed and Stay Dangerous!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Defeating Drone Surveillance (Part 3)

This is third installment of Drones and the CO. If you missed them or just want to review, here are the FIRST and SECOND installments.

 

There is no doubt that the U.S. is fast becoming a “Surveillance State” similar to the ‘Islamic Bastion of Great Britain’, where there is currently one CCTV camera for every 11 citizens. Drones play into this orwellian ratio also, being used by Law Enforcement agencies nationwide to conduct “surveillance” on “suspected” criminals. As I have reported before, the martial civilian is fighting fire with fire in this regard and is fielding their own fleet of Guerilla drones. The civilian drone situation has gotten so bad in fact, that lawmakers in Washington, like the lib-tard Senator Chuck Schumer, has drafted up a proposed “Drone Geofencing” amendment. In a nutshell, the amendment proposes Drone manufacturers install safeguards in the drone’ software to keep it away from sensitive areas like airports, airliners and emergency response crews (like the ones currently fighting the wildfires out west).

But like all things that are designed to try and CONTAIN things or people, there is always something else designed to help it break free. DEF-CON hackers at the most recent conference in Las Vegas showed how these “Geofences” could be easily manipulated using things like a DIY GPS Spoofer. This method  interestingly enough was used against the United States by Iran when an American RQ-170 Sentinel Drone was spoofed and forced to land within Iranian borders in 2011. Contrary to popular belief, it is no state secret how Iran managed to do this; they simply did an open sourced Google Search! I would be remissed if I did not mention that GPS spoofing is highly illegal, so proceed at your own risk.

But if spoofing drones isn’t your thing, there is always hiding from them.

Recently I posted an article on building a DIY “Counter UAV” Thermal Evasion Suit and from the number of responses I got, this is a subject you guys are fairly interested in. So after a little more digging and research, I found some other interesting options when it comes to Counter-UAV Camo.

Stealth-Wear by artist Adam Harvey offers the CO some fashionably acceptable alternatives than a conspicuous Counter UAV Ghille suit; Stealth Wear is more suited for those late night “urban” operations when you don’t wanna look like a wanna-be GI Joe. Harvey also has your electronic comms covered by creating an ultra-light and portable Faraday Cage for your phone. The OFF Pocket is a no-brainer piece of EW kit for the discerning 21st century Civilian Operator. Lastly, Harvey has designed a piece of kit to help defeat facial recognition software so commonly used in CCTV urban monitoring (Mainly used in Great Britain and Europe). CV Dazzle  was originally designed to help defeat paparazzi snapping illegal photos, but has recently been adopted by many CO’s in Europe who prefer to have their privacy INTACT and secure wherever they go.

There is no doubt in my mind, the civilian Drone market is going to explode bigger than ever soon. And just as there will be a large contingent of CO’s looking to get into Drones, there will be even a larger contingent of privacy conscious CO’s looking to DEFEAT them. One of the companies that is a fore runner in the “Counter UAV” market is Drone Shield. Currently, the company offers Drone Detection that is state-of-the-art; involving omni-directional sensors and a multi-faceted interface that can work with your I-Phone, tablet or Laptop. Where they are lacking currently is in a way to STOP drones,(ie a signal jamming system) which currently, as we have discussed, is highly illegal by the FCC. They do offer a “Drone Net” gun however. (insert sarcastic and funny comment here).

Finally, at the end of the day, when you have exhausted all avenues and you just have to stop that pesky drone from buzzing your property and privacy, Snake River Shooting Products  with their Drone Munition Line offers you just the ammunition you need. Yes, folks, we are talking shotguns and using the drones as the skeet. Pull!!  These 3″ 12 Gauge Shotgun shells pack a whallop and as an added bonus when all the drones have been blasted out of the sky, you can also hunt geese, ducks or turkeys with them too, how very convenient!

Stay Smart out there guys, and as always, Stay Armed and Stay Dangerous!