We live in a world where infrared cameras can scan for drunks and the Federal Bureau of Investigation is sinking $ 1 billion into a new facial recognition program. Maybe it's time to start thinking like a master spy.
For those of you interested in channeling James Bond, here are some straight-out-of-a-movie ways to avoid the surveillance systems all around you. You know -- just in case.
And if you're not paranoid enough already, check out our gallery of the 13 creepiest apps around.
The Japanese government counter-terrorism practice of <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/11/20/us-japan-fingerprinting-idUST23858020071120" target="_hplink">fingerprinting foreigners who enter the country</a> may have inspired Doctor Tsutomu Matsumoto to invent "fingerprinting gels", a way of <a href="http://cryptome.org/gummy.htm" target="_hplink">faking fingerprints for scanners</a>. <a href="http://www.dansdata.com/uareu.htm" target="_hplink">Learn how</a> to make your own here.
Worried someone around you is <a href="http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-07-28/strategy/29998051_1_bank-employee-consent-conversation" target="_hplink">secretly recording everything you do?</a> No fear! There's a relatively low-tech way to defeat such snoops, via white-noise-producing <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Productive-Home-Security-Prducts-Jammer/dp/B002PJ7PYS" target="_hplink">audio jammers</a>. These tiny devices use good ol' white noise to blur the sound picked up by hidden microphones and other surreptitious recording devices.
<a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/view/421768/silence-smart-phones-at-thanksgiving-dinner-with/" target="_hplink">MIT's Technology Review</a> calls it the newest, hottest Thanksgiving accessory -- but you can use phone-size "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage" target="_hplink">Faraday cages</a>" like this (sold by <a href="http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/phonekerchief?9gtype=search&9gkw=phone kerchief&9gad=6315569457&gclid=CKWq9s2krLICFcRM4AodwDoAAw" target="_hplink">uncommongoods</a>) to block your cellphone's call signal, WiFi and GPS. Handy now that<a href=" http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/08/federal-court-rules-cops-can-warantlessly-track-suspects-via-cellphone/" target="_hplink"> federal courts are ruling that cops can track suspects via cellphone sans warrant</a>, and <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/apple-patent-could-remotely-disable-protesters-phone-cameras-7000003640/" target="_hplink">Apple can remotely disable your phone camera with a click</a>. As security researcher <a href="http://nplusonemag.com/leave-your-cellphone-at-home" target="_hplink">Jacob Appelbaum said in an interview with N+1 back in April</a>, "Cell phones are tracking devices that make phone calls." So shouldn't you be prepared for when you <em>don't</em> want to be tracked?
Hidden cameras got you down? Blind them all with a simple baseball cap lined with infrared LEDs. <a href="http://creator.wonderhowto.com/amiehold/" target="_hplink">Amie, a hacker on WonderHowTo</a>, shows the world <a href="http://mods-n-hacks.wonderhowto.com/how-to/make-infrared-mask-hide-your-face-from-cameras-201280/#" target="_hplink">how to make one</a>, while <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.oberwelt.de%2Fprojects%2F2008%2FFilo%2520art.htm&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8" target="_hplink">this German art exhibition</a> lays out how these ingenious devices work.
These receivers reveal the telltale electronic crackle of hidden mics and cameras. Strangely enough, they were around long before "surveillance culture" became a <a href="http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/ylsspps_papers/64/" target="_hplink">common phrase</a>. Today they're sold in all sorts of <a href="http://www.gadget-playground.com/bug-detection.html" target="_hplink">shops for surveillance paranoids</a>.
Sometimes hiding your face isn't enough; sometimes you don't want to be seen at all. For those days, there's camera maps. The <a href="http://www.mediaeater.com/cameras/locations.html " target="_hplink">NYC Surveillance Camera Project</a> is currently working to document the location of and working status of every security camera in New York City. This project has been replicated by others in <a href="http://www.notbored.org/boston.html" target="_hplink">Boston</a>, <a href="http://www.notbored.org/chicago-SCP.html" target="_hplink">Chicago</a> and <a href="http://www.bloomingtonsecuritycameras.com/map.html" target="_hplink">Bloomington</a>, Indiana. <a href="http://www.notbored.org" target="_hplink">Notbored.org</a> has even published a guide to making your own surveillance camera maps (<a href="http://www.notbored.org/map-making.html " target="_hplink">here</a>).
Credit to artist <a href="http://ahprojects.com/" target="_hplink">Adam Harvey</a> for this one. Inspired by the <a href="http://www.bobolinkbooks.com/Camoupedia/DazzleCamouflage.html" target="_hplink">"dazzle camouflage" </a>used on submarines and warships during World War I, he designed a series of face paint principles meant to fool the facial recognition schemas of security cameras. Check out <a href="http://dismagazine.com/dystopia/evolved-lifestyles/8115/anti-surveillance-how-to-hide-from-machines/ " target="_hplink">The Perilous Glamour of Life Under Surveillance</a> for some tips on designing your own camera-fooling face paint.
Walmart may be the premier symbol of corporate America, but its disposable cellphone selection can help you start a thoroughly maverick lifestyle. <a href="http://www.walmart.com/ip/TracFone-Samsung-S125G-Prepaid-Cell-Phone-Bundle/20933059" target="_hplink">$ 10 TracFones</a> work on most major networks, including <a href="http://www.prepaidphonenews.com/2011/12/how-to-get-tracfone-net10-or-straight.html" target="_hplink">AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon</a>, and come with minutes prepaid so you can dispose of the devices when you're done.
Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) chips are now <a href="http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/high-tech-gadgets/rfid.htm" target="_hplink">regularly implanted</a> in passports, ID cards, credit cards and travel papers. These tiny chips make machine-reading your documents easier -- but could also let anyone with the right type of scanner <a href="http://articles.cnn.com/2006-07-10/tech/rfid_1_rfid-industry-rfid-journal-rfid-chips?_s=PM:TECH " target="_hplink">scrape your information <em>and</em> track your whereabouts</a>. Luckily, gadget geeks have come to the rescue again, this time with<a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/8cdd/" target="_hplink"> RFID-blocking wallets</a>. Working on the same principle as the "phonekerchief", these wallets create a Faraday cage around your items, keeping their data secure until you take them out to be scanned where they're supposed to be scanned. Destroying the chip is simp ler: <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-blockkill-RFID-chips/" target="_hplink">just nuke it in the microwave for five seconds</a>. Of course, whatever you're microwaving might <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_5UYcyO3Pg" target="_hplink">burst into flames</a> first...
Also on HuffPost:
No comments:
Post a Comment