Anonymous originated in 2003 on the imageboard 4chan, representing the concept of many online and offline community users simultaneously existing as an anarchic, digitized global brain.[4][5][6] Anonymous members (known as "Anons") can be distinguished in public by the wearing of Guy Fawkes masks in the style portrayed in the graphic novel and film V for Vendetta.[7] However this may not always be the case, as some of the collective prefer to instead cover their face without using the well-known mask as a disguise.

Top high tech facial recognition foil

The U.S. government is spending billions of dollars to ensure that they can monitor and track every single activity in which you engage, be it online of off. The latest attempt to infringe on the personal anonymity comes in the form of what has been referred to as Real I.D., essentially a social security number for the internet which would be used to follow your every move in cyberspace. Coupled with technologies that include email mining, global positioning systems, predictive behavioral analysis, drones over America, and even eavesdropping via microphones on our cell phones, the ultimate goal is a surveillance state so expansive that Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin would be jealous. But just as quickly as government introduces the technologies that are supposed to keep us safe from terrorists and ourselves, enterprising rebels across the country are working to counter them. In the realm of biometrics, where literally hundreds of thousands of cameras now watch our every move and plug in directly to data mining Fusion Centers where our activities are analyzed, aggregated and dispatched according to our perceived threat, some might think the system itself has become unbeatable. Short of plastic surgery, how can we modify our faces to disappear from prying government eyes when we step out of our front doors? If Leo Selvaggio has his way, you’ll be able to assume an alternative identity by using an age old low-tech strategy made possible by modern-day 3-D printers. It’s so simple that it’s brilliant, especially considering the fact that Selvaggio’s innovation is capable of compromising multi-billion dollar face recognition surveillance systems with the use of an easily obtainable personal prosthetic mask.

Politician facially picked up arriving at an event

Is your privacy worth your safety? This has been a popular question asked by many people who feel that the governments of the world have gone too far in the collection everything there is to know about their citizens. Well, guess what? It's only going to get worse. With the rise of facial recognition, people have started to fight back against the surveillance state by wearing masks, ie Guy Fawkes maks which were made popular by the movie V For Vendetta and later appropriated by the group Anonymous. But in today's world, you don't have to be a revolutionary to want to protect your identity. So here are some of the best ways you can do that.

Heat blocking hoodie

Anti Facial recognition clothing features multiple faces on them and can confuse cameras.

Taken by the emergence of mass protest movements around the world, artist Zach Blas began making his "Facial Weaponization Suite," a series of community workshops that discuss and resist biometric facial recognition technologies and the larger political ethos that supports and enforces them. The workshop participants then have their own faces scanned and compiled into a collective mask, a mask which resists any biometric quantification.

Anti-camera clothing, mostly used by celebrities who want to fight the paparazzi, but could also be used by the average joe.

Strategically placed makeup and hairstyles may thwart facial recognition software as well. But this may not be for everyone

Illuminated glasses make it difficult for the FRC to make out your facial features.

Again crazy makeovers and hairstyles can help but they also make you stand out in crowds.

Certain printed fabric can be designed to effect facial image recognition and overload the cameras with too much data to work with. Imagine using this as a scarf for a beanie.

Another example of highly reflective clothing, but this is only used with flash.

Highly reflective anti paparazzi suit

Another example of illuminated glasses that will hide your facial features, the only downside is they bring too much attention. However, they do work.

Illuminated glasses can be seen working here.

Even simple prints may work

Make as shown before does affect the FRC's and maybe this is a better one for women than for men.

And here we see how a simple hairstyle can influence RFC's as well.

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.

Personal Surveillance Identity Prosthetic a much more high-tech way of hiding your identity. It’s one of three products made by the Chicago-based artist’s URME Surveillance, a venture dedicated to “protecting the public from surveillance and creating a safe space to explore our digital identities.” “Our world is becoming increasingly surveilled. For example, Chicago has over 25,000 cameras networked to a single facial recognition hub,” reads the URME (pronounced U R Me) site. “We don’t believe you should be tracked just because you want to walk outside and you shouldn’t have to hide either. Instead, use one of our products to present an alternative identity when in public.”

After thinking about all the way's we can hide our identities, maybe looking like a total idiot in public is a small price to pay for having the piece of mind and the privacy we deserve.