FB pixel

Japanese firm introduces privacy visor that confuses facial recognition software

| Stephen Mayhew
Categories Biometrics News  |  Facial Recognition
 

According to a report in Inverse, Japan’s Nissey Corp. is set to release a privacy visor that the company claims will scramble digital facial recognition software.

“This is a way to prevent privacy invasion through the many image sensors in smartphones and other devices that can unintentionally photograph people in the background,” commented National Institute for Informatics researcher and a visor developer Isao Echizen.

The visor allows enough light through so that you can still see, but the mesh screen blurs the light that normally reflects on your face, apparently confusing digital facial recognition software which uses unique shadow arrangements to make identifications.

The privacy visor is expected to retail for $240.

According to related media reports, Echizen explained, “Your face is the information that identifies you. It’s unstoppable once it’s leaked on the web, because you can’t change it like a password.”

In 2013, Echizen was one of two Japanese professors who designed a pair of glasses to thwart facial recognition systems, using simple near-infrared lights only visible to cameras. While groundbreaking, the technology was a little unreliable and bulky so it is hoped the new mesh glasses will help the developers get to market faster.

In March 2015 at Mobile World Congress, AVG demonstrated a prototype pair of glasses that makes it difficult for facial recognition software to recognize and take a photo of the wearer’s face. The AVG glasses also used a set of infrared LEDs around the eyes and nose areas that are only visible to digital cameras.

Article Topics

 |   |   |   | 

Latest Biometrics News

 

Biometrics providers and systems evolve or get left behind

Biometrics are allowing people to prove who they are, speeding journeys through airports, and enabling anonymous online proof of age,…

 

Findynet funding development of six digital wallet solutions

Finnish public-private cooperative Findynet has announced it will award 60,000 euros (US$69,200) to six digital wallet vendors to help translate…

 

Patchwork of age check, online safety legislation grows across US

As the U.S. waits for the Supreme Court’s opinion on the Texas case of Paxton v. Free Speech Coalition, which…

 

AVPA laud findings from age assurance tech trial

The Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA), and several of its members, have welcomed the publication of preliminary findings from the…

 

Sri Lanka to launch govt API policies and guidelines

Sri Lanka’s government, in the wake of its digital economy drive, is gearing up to release application programming interface (API)…

 

Netherlands’ asylum seeker ID cards from Idemia use vertical ICAO format

The Netherlands will introduce new identity documents for asylum seekers Idemia Smart Identity, compliant with the ICAO specification for vertical…

Comments

87 Replies to “Japanese firm introduces privacy visor that confuses facial recognition software”

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Continue Reading

Biometric Market Analysis

Most Viewed This Week

Featured Company

Learn More

Biometrics Insight, Opinion

Digital ID In-Depth

Biometrics White Papers

Biometrics Events