Blocking facial recognition

With his cheek to the ground and his own blood pooling beneath his face, the protester pleaded for mercy. The hard hat and black clothes have become the standard uniform of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, but the man who aided police in the arrest last Sunday was actually part of an undercover operation, the police department said in a press conference earlier this week. It was the first time that authorities had publicly confirmed using undercover officers. Since the protests started in June over a controversial extradition bill, participants have routinely covered their faces, blocked or smashed closed-circuit television cameras, and communicated over encrypted apps to conceal their identities. But with the protests growing into a wider resistance movement, with police expanding their tactics and nearly people arrested, protesters are increasingly paranoid about how the authorities are working to identify them — and who can be trusted. Before Hong Kong became a territory of China, it had been under British rule for years.

This is the ambitious goal designer and creator Scott Urban set out to achieve with his newest line of "privacy eyewear. The Phantoms are the latest iteration in privacy wear from Urban, whose Reflectacles Ghost frames — currently sold out — reflect both visible light and infrared light as a way to partially blind traditional flash photography and IR security cameras. Unlike the Ghost model, the newer Phantoms pictured above reflect only IR light and also come with the option of IR-light blocking lenses. This means that your face won't be blurred out in photographs taken with a flash, or in standard security camera footage in a well-lit environment. But that doesn't mean the glasses aren't working.

P icture the scene. Your phone beeps. A news alert tells you that the owners of this pseudo- public space, Argent, are using facial recognition software in security cameras.

Technology that matches faces to names can already single out criminals. What happens when it can identify anyone? Near-total airport security is possible. Technologies are in sight to seal the leaks, spot the bad guys, find the bombs. Menu Sign Up.