From: Ross A. Finlayson (raf@tiki-lounge.com)
Date: Fri Dec 17 1999 - 06:12:03 MST
One can of opaque spraypaint will cover quite a few lens-sized areas.
Perhaps the larger danger to privacy and thus largely individual rights is that
of general large scale organized data collection and the usurpation of public
databases by private interests.
Does the government have an "opt-out" option? Ha ha, but seriously, the largest
portion of us are people who pay their taxes and do not commit violent crimes
thus largely upholding the social contract, that being most of the extent of a
legitimate one.
About spraypaint, be careful, believe it or not, in some areas a can of
spraypaint is "more" illegal than a handgun. Also about spraypaint, there are
probably many ways to register public disapproval of government sponsored
Orwellianism.
Ross Finlayson
Charlie Stross wrote:
> On Thu, Dec 16, 1999 at 09:50:45PM -0800, Spike Jones wrote:
> > Actually I need to check on the state of the art in face rec. How
> > would it know if some yahoo is making strange faces as she walks
> > down the street? spike
>
> As I understand it, the designers of such software are not idiots; they're
> looking for metrics that the yahoo on the street _can't_ change -- bone
> structure, not soft tissue. The distance between your eyes is constant, and
> you can't change it without major bone surgery. The length of your leg
> bones and width of your pelvis is constant(ish), and again, you can't
> easily change it. Put a whole bunch of these metrics together any you
> have a "fingerprint" distinctive enough that you could dress up as the Pope,
> shave your head, grow a beard, wear an eye-patch and some false teeth,
> and they'd still recognize you.
>
> -- Charlie
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