Belarus Oppositon Groups Are Using Software That Identifies Police Officers Wearing Masks

RIght now its getting serious: this is why you dont mess with #Belarus IT specialists

they have developed software that allows them to recognise OMON officers even if they are wearing a balaclava

video shows it in action pic.twitter.com/hkZJgvVbC4

— BenAris (@bneeditor) September 24, 2020

BNE Intelligence: Belarus IT specialists develop software to identify OMON officers wearing masks

IT specialists based in Los Angeles have developed software that allows them to identify police and OMON riot police officers even if they are wearing a mask. The information, including their names, address and telephone numbers, is then added to growing blacklists published online that are documenting abuses committed by the security forces during demonstrations against Belarus' self-appointed President Alexander Lukashenko.

“IT country rocks! Belarusian IT specialist from Los Angeles uses artificial intelligence to deanonymize the punishers and reveal their real faces hidden under balaclavas,” Franak Viacorka, a local journalist said on Twitter.

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WNU Editor: Many of these officers live very discreet and private lives. To be exposed in this manner must be very unsettling to some of them.

This Is How the U.S. Military’s Massive Facial Recognition System Works

An American ISAF solider from team Apache of Task Force Geronimo, 4th Platoon Delaware of the United States Army, collects biometric information from an Afghan villager in the village of Mans Kalay in Sabari, Khost district. 2012 AFP

One Zero: EXCLUSIVE: This Is How the U.S. Military’s Massive Facial Recognition System Works

Documents obtained by OneZero show how the military captures biometric data around the world.

Over the last 15 years, the United States military has developed a new addition to its arsenal. The weapon is deployed around the world, largely invisible, and grows more powerful by the day.

That weapon is a vast database, packed with millions of images of faces, irises, fingerprints, and DNA data — a biometric dragnet of anyone who has come in contact with the U.S. military abroad. The 7.4 million identities in the database range from suspected terrorists in active military zones to allied soldiers training with U.S. forces.

“Denying our adversaries anonymity allows us to focus our lethality. It’s like ripping the camouflage netting off the enemy ammunition dump,” wrote Glenn Krizay, director of the Defense Forensics and Biometrics Agency, in notes obtained by OneZero. The Defense Forensics and Biometrics Agency (DFBA) is tasked with overseeing the database, known officially as the Automated Biometric Information System (ABIS).

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WNU editor: The advancements in this technology during the past ten years have truly been incredible.

Hong Kong Protesters Use Lasers To Disrupt Government Facial-Recognition Cameras

Images de «Science fiction» à Hong Kong: les manifestants pointent des lasers sur la police pour empêcher la reconnaissance faciale du gouvernement chinois https://t.co/qkLdGbxl7n @aletweetsnews pic.twitter.com/zovVac5Y95

— L'important (@Limportant_fr) July 30, 2019

Business Insider: Video shows Hong Kong protesters using lasers to disrupt government facial-recognition cameras

* A video shows Hong Kong protesters shining lasers into facial-recognition cameras in an apparent attempt to blind them.
* The video, broadcast by Hong Kong's Now TV, shows people shining laser pens at cameras, Hong Kong police officers, and government buildings.
* Protesters have sought to remain anonymous by spray-painting and shining lasers at cameras inside the Chinese government office in Hong Kong, The New York Times reported.
* The concentrated light emitted by lasers can heat up and damage sensitive surfaces like camera sensors, the International Laser Display Association says.
* The protests, which started in early June over the territory's relationship with mainland China, have raged for weeks and show no sign of easing.

A video from the ongoing Hong Kong protests shows demonstrators shining lasers at police facial-recognition cameras in an apparent attempt to blind them.

More than 1 million people have demonstrated in Hong Kong's streets since early June against a proposed bill that would allow Hong Kong to extradite citizens to mainland China.

The bill's progress has stalled, but the protest movement has ballooned into a wider fight to preserve the autonomy of the region.

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Update #1: Hong Kong protesters use lasers to avoid facial recognition cameras and blind police (The Independent)
Update #2: Hong Kong protesters are using lasers to distract and confuse. Police are shining lights right back. (The Washington Post)

WNU Editor: These protesters are not naive. They know that the security services are trying to identify protest leaders, and these lasers will make that job just a tad more difficult.

Half Of U.S Adults Are In A Police Facial-Recognition Database

The Atlantic: Half of American Adults Are in Police Facial-Recognition Databases

Cities and states are investing in biometric scanning technology, with few laws in place to restrict what they can do with it.

If you’re reading this in the United States, there’s a 50 percent chance that a photo of your face is in at least one database used in police facial-recognition systems.

Police departments in nearly half of U.S. states can use facial-recognition software to compare surveillance images with databases of ID photos or mugshots. Some departments only use facial-recognition to confirm the identity of a suspect who’s been detained; others continuously analyze footage from surveillance cameras to determine exactly who is walking by at any particular moment. Altogether, more than 117 million American adults are subject to face-scanning systems.

These findings were published Tuesday in a report from Georgetown Law’s Center for Privacy and Technology. It details the results of a year-long investigation that drew upon more than 15,000 pages of records obtained through more than 100 freedom-of-information requests.

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WNU Editor: There is already a facial recognition app being marketed in Russia .... Face recognition app taking Russia by storm may bring end to public anonymity (The Guardian).

More News On Reports That Half Of U.S Adult Population Are In A Police Facial-Recognition Database

Half of U.S adult faces are now in police databases -- Vice News
Cops Have a Database of 117M Faces. You're Probably in It -- WIRED
Half of U.S. Adults Are in Police Facial Recognition Networks -- US News and World Report
Half of the United States is registered in police facial recognition databases, and they're completely unregulated -- Quartz
Police have gathered facial recognition files on half of adult Americans — and Big Brother never forgets a face -- Salon
Study Urges Tougher Oversight for Police Use of Facial Recognition -- New York Times