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Face coverings are a great way to defeat the surveillance state—especially now that the U.S. government has conceded that masks confuse the hell out of facial recognition technology.

“The more of the nose a mask covers, the lower the algorithm’s accuracy,” the NIST report adds of the digitally simulated coverings used in the study.

The widespread use of masks for public safety could likely continue to impact the effectiveness of face recognition systems even after federal or state mandates for their use are withdrawn since many people will continue to voluntarily wear face coverings in public even after restrictions are lifted or until an effective COVID-19 vaccine is publicly available.

The notice also talked of other means of defeating facial recognition technology, including blue and green lasers to blind cameras, “clothing or accessories with images of faces, license plates, or pixelated images” to confuse algorithms, and specialized hats and other accessories that emit infrared light that can wash-out camera images.

Some clever entrepreneurs have deliberately targeted the market for surveillance-defeating fashion, producing dazzling eyeglasses and distracting clothing intended to drive facial recognition technology to distraction.

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