Posted 08.26.2011 at 4:44 pm
13 Comments
Google's New Facial Recognition App Will Use Pictures To Search the Web For Personal Details
Hello Turkey To via Flickr
Social media can be problematic for professionals who don't want their bosses to see unflattering college party photos. But it’s even worse for people whose livelihood literally depends on anonymity, like undercover cops. What happens if the gang you’ve infiltrated finds your grinning mug in Facebook photos from the police union annual picnic?
We’ve seen how easily biometrics can be used to identify people based on their Internet photos, using something as simple as an iPhone app. Cops themselves are using this technology to ID people on the street — so why wouldn’t intrepid motorcycle gang leaders do the same?
Related Articles
Tags
Technology, Rebecca Boyle, cops, facebook, law enforcement, law enforcement officials, police, social media, social networking sites, twitterThe worst news, from a cop’s perspective: “All respondents aged 26 years or younger had uploaded photos of themselves onto the Internet,” ComputerWorld reports. And 85 percent of respondents said someone else had uploaded photos of them. What’s more, 42 percent of respondents said they could identify someone based on his or her social media relationships, ComputerWorld says.
“The 16-year-olds of today who might become officers in the future have already been exposed,” Mick Keelty, a former Australian Federal Police commissioner, said at a security conference in Sydney.
This covers Australia, not the U.S., but it’s reasonable to expect the numbers would be somewhat similar in this country. If so, that means the next generation of undercover agents may have to go to even greater extremes to win the trust of the groups they’re trying to infiltrate. It can already take several years to do this. Maybe future cops should adopt the adage used by aspiring politicians: Decide at age 5 and act accordingly.
13 Comments
To comment, please Login.
Popular Tags
Technology
140 years of Popular Science at your fingertips.
Popular Science+ For iPad
Each issue has been completely reimagined for your iPad. See our amazing new vision for magazines that goes far beyond the printed page
Download Our App
Stay up to date on the latest news of the future of science and technology from your iPhone or Android phone with full articles, images and offline viewing
Follow Us On Twitter
Featuring every article from the magazine and website, plus links from around the Web. Also see our PopSci DIY feed
April 2013: How It Works
For our annual How It Works issue, we break down everything from the massive Falcon Heavy rocket to a tiny DNA sequencer that connects to a USB port. We also take a look at an ambitious plan for faster-than-light travel and dive into the billion-dollar science of dog food.
Plus the latest Legos, Cadillac's plug-in hybrid, a tractor built for the apocalypse, and more.
Popular on Popsci
Most Commented
Technology
- Warp Factor
- Bill Gates Will Pay You $100,000 If You Can Make A Better Condom
- FBI Wants To Spy On Your Online Chats As They Happen
- Blueprint: Engineers Invent A Healthier Toilet
- Faster-Than-Light Drive
- Who Are The Casualties Of America's Drone Strikes? [Infographic]
- Why Legal Experts Say It's Okay To Kill A Civilian Hacker In Cyber Warfare
- In The Future We Will All Live In Photosynthetic French Sea Pods
- China Makes 50% Of Your Stuff. How Many Chinese Brands Can You Actually Name?
- The 6 Most Absurd Military Hoaxes By North Korea And Iran
Most Emailed
Technology
- Brain Wave Sensor Shields You From Phone Calls When Your Mind Is Too Busy
- Border Patrol's Newest Tool? VADER On A Drone
- In The Future We Will All Live In Photosynthetic French Sea Pods
- BigPic: The James Webb Space Telescope, Ready To Be Frozen
- The Newest Defense Against Biological Warfare? This Cube
- The Navy Sees A Bright Military Future In 3-D Printing
- 9 Revolutionary Elevators From The Otis Elevator Company
- 9 Revolutionary Elevators From The Otis Elevator Company
- Fund A House That Shapeshifts With The Seasons
- Space Station's Giant Antimatter Magnet Finds Abundance Of Mysterious Particles
Most Viewed
Technology
- Brain Wave Sensor Shields You From Phone Calls When Your Mind Is Too Busy
- Border Patrol's Newest Tool? VADER On A Drone
- In The Future We Will All Live In Photosynthetic French Sea Pods
- BigPic: The James Webb Space Telescope, Ready To Be Frozen
- The Newest Defense Against Biological Warfare? This Cube
- The Navy Sees A Bright Military Future In 3-D Printing
- 9 Revolutionary Elevators From The Otis Elevator Company
- 9 Revolutionary Elevators From The Otis Elevator Company
- Fund A House That Shapeshifts With The Seasons
- Space Station's Giant Antimatter Magnet Finds Abundance Of Mysterious Particles
Online Content Director: Suzanne LaBarre | Email
Senior Editor: Paul Adams | Email
Associate Editor: Dan Nosowitz | Email
Assistant Editor: Colin Lecher | Email
Assistant Editor:Rose Pastore | Email
Contributing Writers:
Rebecca Boyle | Email
Kelsey D. Atherton | Email
Francie Diep | Email
Shaunacy Ferro | Email
Today on PopSci.com
Copyright © 2012 Popular Science
A Bonnier Corporation Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
from Los Angeles, CA
Bill Dale
It's a double-edged sword-- an undercover operative could do a search of pix online... contact whoever necessary to remove the pix, or better yet, rename yourself in pix where you appear-- enhancing your undercover... er... cover.
You could get the cooperation of Facebook or others, perhaps, as well, to enhance your alias.
Er... wouldn't someone who really wants to preserve their anonymity deliberately avoid things like company picnics? As long as you use a fake identity on social media and don't stick pictures of yourself online, you should be fine in general. Any criminal who wants to find out your true identity will have to dig a lot harder that way.
maybe so but it will also make harder to on bad guys to plan on the internet
Changing the name on posted pics wouldn't work- biometrics would finger you. The point may have been reached where the only way to do undercover work would be to turn an existing gang member.That has been done in the past.
Criminals could still plan on the internet using a proxy server like TOR and military grade encryption freeware,both of which are free.
Some thoughts:
1. Has the Witness Protection Program become obsolete?
2. Might the easiest way to discredit a gang rival be to photoshop him into a police pic and post it on the web?
3. Will pics and videos, as courtroom evidence, no longer be considered trustworthy after it gets too easy to fake them? That day cannot be far off.
An end to Secret Police? Terrible.
I think the witness protection program would still be useful,although the people being protected better make damn sure their recent photos don't show up online.
Yes,put your rival's photo on Facebook at the Police Picnic.
An expert can still tell if a photo has been faked by time of day shadows,etc.Saw some expert picking apart UFO shots that way.
What? They know he's Mr. James Band.
Uh I mean Bond
This'll also work on unmarked police cars as safety-cameras become more and more common and cars start talking to ech other.
Right now satnav can tell you where speed cameras are. Eventually somone will write some 'viral' software that gives cars the radar like ability to track those cars, or at least their license plates.
Easy. Bionic overlays that will change your facial features just enough to fool software.
Or law enforcement could . .do their jobs honestly? Just a thought.