I sometimes wear a mask while I’m driving because of cameras above, as with plans by the United States Empire to use facial recognition on everyone going through its borders by car.
They have already, most likely, been using mediocre to rudimentary versions of facial recognition and photographic tech for some time, but now they are recruiting tech companies to have them refine these systems. In particular, the anti-immigrantism of this current regime is escalating these efforts.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been trying to ramp up facial recognition and biometric theft for ages. This has always been the plan.
The problem with this specific car border roll out, is it will be difficult to even offer an option to opt out, because this requires that the driver has a dedicated lane somewhere off to the side. While this is not in and of itself an arduous task, it is the fact that there are so many cameras at these checkpoints already, so the driver’s face will have already been captured by the time they pull over.
Right now, in highways, neighborhoods, towns, and cities around the Empire, there are already License Plate Readers (LPRs) that are doing much more than capturing license plates. Those often record the car’s make, color, condition, model, sometimes even passengers, as well as the driver’s face.
Many, if not most, of these License Plate Recognition cameras can be easily repurposed into refined biometric and facial recognition cameras. They can essentially just push a button and install more sophisticated software to push them through as sophisticated facial and biometric theft AI cameras.
According to current CBP policy, there should be an alternate screening method for people to opt out of facial recognition and biometric theft. But in the case of cars driving through border check points, I would not be surprised if CBP went against their own policy to not offer this option. Or, as previously mentioned, they might have an option to opt out in a separate lane, but that will almost be moot considering the sheer number of cameras aimed at cars already.
So here are some initial strategies we can consider.
Feel free to print out this QR code and put it in your window as you cross the border. This QR code leads to this site that clearly states that you do not consent to your image, likeness, and video being captured.
While they may still capture your image, and they may not care at all about that QR code, it is a way to start a conversation and push back around consent and surveillance. At the end of the day, in a culture that is trying to take away our right to consent, it is important for us to demand that we be asked for our consent whenever it is being assumed or taken. The QR code is available to download and print for free, and also available in button and sticker form at JeomShim.
This is just one of the many tools I offer against biometric theft, surveillance, and AI algorithms taking our identity and creations without our consent.
If you do wear end up wearing a mask, make sure it is not the type of mask that covers your entire face, as obscuring your peripheral vision could be considered an offense. Also remember that face masks like N95 respirators can deter many algorithms, but AI is being trained to be able to read faces even with masks.
One can also use the car’s built-in visor, a hat, or even one’s hand. In the past, I have covered a variety of other ways to thwart facial recognition and biometric theft, such as with face makeup, lights, lasers, and reflections.
As always, if you are of any identity that white cis, head, ableist, anti-immigrant, capitalist, colonial culture does not want to exist, then a higher risk is being put on you, so take that into consideration.
And if lower risk is being put on you, then this is a great opportunity to be a co-conspirator.
If and when you can, opt out, opt out, opt out.
Comments are closed.