Re:America is giving up on the pandemic?
by saiya-jin on Sunday June 07, 2020 @03:31PM
(#23450014)
Serious question from non-US person - isn't one of the main reasons to also get some anonymity? As IT guy I know damn well how good face recognition software works these days, en masse. With all the biometric data US govt has on everybody, pairing would not be that hard for many.
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You might look up what happened to ferguson protest organizers: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/puzzling-number-men-tie...
I’m not going to claim that these were all retributive, but I can certainly understand the paranoia—legal protections only exist on paper.
The (peaceful) protests aren't illegal so anonymity isn't a major concern. Police might be violent towards protestors in the moment, but there's zero risk of the government tracking down and punishing protesters after the fact.
> there's zero risk of the government tracking down and punishing protesters after the fact.
ehhh I wouldn't be so sure about that.
As a matter of policy I would be pretty sure about it. If you weren’t looting or setting fires there will be no organized attempt to find you. Individuals within the government may take on personal vendettas from this but the risk of that to the average protest attendee is so low due to sheer numbers.
That's very good sarcasm right there. Perhaps the many years in the corporate world have made me too cynical, but I'd expect all and every protestor to be captured on cameras, identified later with face recognition software (remember that Amazon's FaceRekognition had contracts with PDs?), matched with photos on driver licenses and over the next few months they would be quietly, but mercilessly punished for the dissent. The only real question is whether the FR software work when face is mostly covered with a mask and sunglasses? It technically can, because ears, hair, head shape and shoulders shape is a unique enough combination.