Hackers Rebel Against Spy Cams

Wired is running an article looking at the little ways in which Austrian technology users are striking back against surveillance. From the article: "Members of the organization worked out a way to intercept the camera images with an inexpensive, 1-GHz satellite receiver. The signal could then be descrambled using hardware designed to enhance copy-protected video as it's transferred from DVD to VHS tape. The Quintessenz activists then began figuring out how to blind the cameras with balloons, lasers and infrared devices. And, just for fun, the group created an anonymous surveillance system that uses face-recognition software to place a black stripe over the eyes of people whose images are recorded."

Veils

[quokkapox]

Maybe we should all just adopt a more modest dress code. We could obscure our faces with veils that only reveal our eyes.

Then only those who wear veils will be criminals.

Turn the tables

[Alcimedes]

I think the only thing that MIGHT actually get the laws changed would be as one person suggested in the article. Turn the tables on those passing the laws. Find key political figures and start saving all the video footage of where they go. I'm sure with tens of hours of video footable between dozens of people you're bound to come across a wide variety of embarassing moments.

Put those up on the web and away you go. Might actually get something changed then.

Re:Ha! I'd dare them to pull that crap here!

[netsharc]

I was about to make the same comment to yours along the lines of "If it's in Austria, then it's not Berliners!".

Yeah, it's either reading comprehension, or lack of geography knowledge. ;-)

Re:Black stripe

[chengmi]

Now if you REALLY don't want to be recognized, then you could/should fill in the whole head with a bright yellow smiley face!

Re:Ha! I'd dare them to pull that crap here!

[willpall]

They weren't neo-nazis you freak. They were Arabs who kidnapped Israelis.

and to quote the grandparent: But since the 1972 olympics security failure, and neo-nazi activities,

Notice that "and"? Your parent poster did not say, "which were," he said "and". He was making a (short) list of things that would tend to make Germany a not-so-friendly-to-terrorists type of place. It wasn't a statement about those that did the kidnapping... you freak :-)

Then only those who wear veils will be criminals.

[mrchaotica]

If you don't think that's already the case, try walking into a bank wearing a ski mask.

Obligitory Anime Reference

[Admiral Justin]

And, just for fun, the group created an anonymous surveillance system that uses face-recognition software to place a black stripe over the eyes of people whose images are recorded.

I want my blue and white laughing man logo with "I thought what I'd do was pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes" spinning around.

Re:Black stripe

[hhghghghh]

Now if you REALLY don't want to be recognized, then you could/should fill in the whole head with a bright yellow smiley face!

Surely you mean a blue, cap-wearing smiley with text rotating around it? [randomdialogue.net]

Re:Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

[HermanAB]

I think "Dirty deeds, done with sheep" was better...

Re:Black stripe

[sunwolf]

Size of eyes, how deep they go into the skull, and the distance between them is a big part of what makes a face unique.

That's why no one recognizes Superman as Clark Kent. He takes his glasses off!

Re:RTFA?

[ms1234]

You must be new here ..

Re:Ha! I'd dare them to pull that crap here!

[PHPfanboy]

LOL - I thought he was referring to the confectionary items in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and couldn't understand the link to Syria. Thanks for clearing that up ;-)

Re:modesty

[geminidomino]

Argh... flashback of my Senior year in high school...

What the bloody hell was I thinking?

Re:RTFA?

[suzerain]

Yeah, but the first word of the article is BERLIN...so, we really should excuse the submitter.

Besides, Germans and Austrians are all the same anyway, right? I mean, both of those countries are outside the United States, and thus populated by 'foreigners'.

Re:Black stripe

[WebCrapper]

Ours had faces printed on them as well. Security got upset with us because we would peel the "face" side off and stick it to something or another badge. All you need is the wire antenna and chip inside. Amazing what can open the door when you do something like that.

We got caught when security found one guy opening the door with his coffee mug too many times. He had glued the stuff to the buttom of the cup and just carried it around all day like the manager on office space.

Re:Excellent!

[Anonymous Coward]

That's what I'm saying. Here in the US we have a bunch of crybaby assholes bitching about due process, right to privacy, and other shit like that. How many more rapists, child molesters, and child porn consumers continue to get away with that shit because of these fucked up laws?

We need to give the government the right to keep us all under surveillance all the time, I don't give a shit what the bleeding hearts say. Think about all the crime we could stop with that technique. The only fucking assholes who would complain about that are people with something to hide, so fuck them.

And anyone trying to scare people with ghosts of lost liberties should be tried as a criminal sympathizer.

Re:Veils

[Spock the Baptist]

That sounds like a veiled threat...

Blurring the lines between fiction and reality

[rocket rancher]

And, just for fun, the group created an anonymous surveillance system that uses face-recognition software to place a black stripe over the eyes of people whose images are recorded.

Replace the black stripe with the laughing man logo from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex...technology blurring fiction and reality once again.