How To Be Anonymous In The Streets

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The 21st century has erased the relative anonymity of the public square. Street surveillance is so advanced and ubiquitous today that anyone and everyone can be identified and tracked at a distance without consent.

No one should have a reasonable expectation of privacy when in public. But that doesn’t mean we still don’t have sensitive information that we would not want to be tracked. Health insurance companies would certainly want to pick up on the spike in your recent visits to the pharmacy. A victim of domestic abuse wouldn’t want to be followed by an AI tool rented by their abuser. A protester might want to join the cause but can’t afford the risk of being identified and have the police visit their home.

Nothing you do in public can be considered private. But if you can be anonymous, then it’s all you need to prevent linking your public activities to your identity.

Being anonymous when everyone is watching sounds like a skill reserved only to the top secret agents from a spy movie. But with a number of tweaks, you can render much of street surveillance tech and tactics useless.

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/2016/aug/17/facial-recognition-a-powerful-ad-tool-or-privacy-nightmare
[2] https://qz.com/512378/ads-have-started-watching-you-back-which-is-not-creepy-at-all/
[3] https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/cameras-targeted-advertising-1.5107784
[4] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/18/technology/clearview-privacy-facial-recognition.html
[5] https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/clearview-ai-local-police-facial-recognition
[6] https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/02/technology/when-no-one-is-just-a-face-in-the-crowd.html
[7] https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/04/30/amazons-facial-recognition-technology-is-supercharging-local-police/
[8a] https://www.propublica.org/article/health-insurers-are-vacuuming-up-details-about-you-..