Photo: adversarialfashion.com
Here’s one way of hiding in plain sight, while also making quite a fashion statement. Designer Kate Rose has created the Adversarial Fashion collection of items that help you trick state surveillance cameras into seeing you as a car. Or several, better said.
Rose debuted her collection at DefCon 2019 earlier this month and it includes basic items like T-shirts and crop tops, unisex bomber jackets, hoodies and stretch dresses. Prices are also very convenient, ranging from about $25 to $50, and the Adversarial Fashion website also offers you the possibility to make your own designs.
However, the coolest part about the garments is that they offer you the possibility to fool with state surveillance systems, the kind used to track civilians through license plates. As stated on the official website, this is possible through the inclusion of imagery of car license plates, which “trigger Automated License Plate Readers, injecting junk data in to the systems used by the State and its contractors to monitor and track civilians and their locations.”
“The patterns were generated by testing a series of modified license plate images with commercial ALPR APIs, working to generate aesthetic fabric patterns that read in to devices and services as if they were real plates,” the page also reads.
In other words, whenever you walk on by in one of these items, ALPRs will see various real cars passing by. It’s like giving the finger to the state, while also wearing something cool that not everyone else has.
CNet notes that Rose came up with the idea for this line during a chat with a friend on the “low specificity or inaccuracy of a lot of plate readers on police cars.” It’s meant to highlight the need for less invasive computer-controlled surveillance and more human oversight, and to protest against what could ultimately be seen as invasion of privacy.
Speaking with the same media outlet, Rose adds that, in order for the garments to do their trick on ALPRs, the fabric must hang straight, allowing the images of license plates to be fully visible. In other words, if you’re considering buying one of these items, size yourself up correctly and buy the right fit.
However, the coolest part about the garments is that they offer you the possibility to fool with state surveillance systems, the kind used to track civilians through license plates. As stated on the official website, this is possible through the inclusion of imagery of car license plates, which “trigger Automated License Plate Readers, injecting junk data in to the systems used by the State and its contractors to monitor and track civilians and their locations.”
“The patterns were generated by testing a series of modified license plate images with commercial ALPR APIs, working to generate aesthetic fabric patterns that read in to devices and services as if they were real plates,” the page also reads.
In other words, whenever you walk on by in one of these items, ALPRs will see various real cars passing by. It’s like giving the finger to the state, while also wearing something cool that not everyone else has.
CNet notes that Rose came up with the idea for this line during a chat with a friend on the “low specificity or inaccuracy of a lot of plate readers on police cars.” It’s meant to highlight the need for less invasive computer-controlled surveillance and more human oversight, and to protest against what could ultimately be seen as invasion of privacy.
Speaking with the same media outlet, Rose adds that, in order for the garments to do their trick on ALPRs, the fabric must hang straight, allowing the images of license plates to be fully visible. In other words, if you’re considering buying one of these items, size yourself up correctly and buy the right fit.
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