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Face Recognition Software Can Track You Anywhere.

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George Orwell’s masterpiece of science fiction, politics, and society, 1984, offers us a glimpse into the not-so-distant future of oppressive government control. 

One of the most disturbing aspects of this very possible future is the constant surveillance that Big Brother enacts on the entire populace. 

The protagonist, Winston Smith, is watched at his home, work and everywhere else by two-way televisions. 

The government agent on the other end of the monitoring system knows Winston by name, and can even shout instructions at him during his mandatory morning workout. 

Many people excuse the possibility of a world like this as impossible. 

They think that the rights and laws of a free society would never permit such blatant violations of privacy. 

Yet the truth of the matter is that we are currently living in a world much like Orwell’s dystopian future. 

By disguising surveillance equipment as technology that increases speed, efficiency and safety our government and the corporations in league with them fool us into not seeing the truth that is in front of us every day. 

Cameras are everywhere in our society. Estimates put more than 30 million cameras in the United States.

Between federal, state and local government, corporations, small businesses and even private residences there is virtually no where in this country you can go without being recorded. 

In conjunction with this massive amount of surveillance equipment, face recognition software and other biometrics combine to allow Big Brother to not only see you, but identify and track you within seconds! 

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Big Brother is Watching

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How It Works

Face recognition system scans a digital image taken from a camera and maps the structure, tone and features of a face using a mathematical algorithm.

This information takes something that was once qualitative, for example “he has a big nose,” and turns it into a quantitative formula. 

While other biometric systems require physical contact with the subject, face recognition does not.

By simply passing by a security camera or being recorded or photographed by an agent of the government, you can be ‘enrolled’ into the system. 

Factor into this equation that high resolution satellites like the EU’s Galieo system can take crystal clear photographs from space, and you have a system to identify, track and spy on anyone on the earth’s surface. 

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Abuses

While face recognition software has been sold to the public as an instrument of safety, most people don’t see how the government and others currently and potentially abuse the system. 

Face recognition software has been used to scan and identify suspects in crowds.

New visas are encoded with photograph information and fingerprints.

In addition, all U.S. passports issued since 2006 have RFID tags, which store personal info and a digitized photo of the citizen carrying it. 

Once a citizen or visitor gets their document scanned, the government knows where they are coming from, where they are going, and how to track them. 

While sold to the public that such actions increase our safety, what are we sacrificing for this safety?

Governments, no matter their intentions or declarations, have historically abused powers like these. 

Our own government routinely monitors and tracks members of activist groups, private citizens, and others, for a variety of reasons.

With the power to track anyone through the almost endless network of security cameras and identify and track them using face recognition software, 1984 is much closer than most people think.

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