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Comment by unono | Hacker News Reader

If VR headsets like Oculus Rift take off, this problem can be mitigated. People will walk around with headsets to cover their entire face, defeating the cameras.

Surveillance is going to happen, if you ban government surveillance, the public will get this tech and drones and be doing it anyway. So the robust way to fight it is to plan your life knowing that you can always be monitored and someone will always know where you are, even at home.

This is a great opportunity for startups. Webapps that allow you to plan your security, kind of mini-fiefdoms with your family, friends, neighbors, associations that plan against attacks from rivals. Electronically activated weapon systems that shoot when a threat is detected. The Mad Max era is coming, and hackers will get many opportunities to earn a fortune.

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>People will walk around with headsets to cover their entire face, defeating the cameras.

You can already obscure all of your face except for your eyes with just a strip of cloth, which will have the exact same effect.

You'll look suspicious, like a ski mask wearing robber. But with headsets, which many people will also be wearing, you won't.

A friend of mine sent me this video just yesterday, showing the feed from a FPV quadcopter:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrVLh6r8hd8&feature=player_de...

Because it wasn't clear to me at first, I'll just point out that the pilot for this thing is using a VR headset similar to Oculus Rift, and the video is sent back to him over wifi. Supposedly the range is on the order of a mile or so.

I didn't even realize this was a feasible thing already! Looking into it, you can get these things for only $1500 or so. And so suddenly I've just realized, 10 or 20 years from now, it's not just the police who will be flying these things around. Why not buy one to use for your own neighborhood watch, right?

Hell, I'd love the chance to fly one of these around just for fun.

And so suddenly I've just realized, 10 or 20 years from now, it's not just the police who will be flying these things around.

On the contrary. In a year or two, it might not be just the police. In 10 or 20 years, I expect they will be regulated, a licence will be required to operate one, and they will be required to transmit identifying information at all times. Apply any argument you like that relates to driving on public roads, any argument you like that relates to handling potentially sensitive personal information, or any argument you like to do with navigating crowded airspace.

Perhaps, but the cameras on the VR headsets will provide even more data for the government for those who don't have an anonymous face; especially if the data is sent to a central server for processing (ala Google Glass).

Plus, unless you build the hardware entirely yourself, the headset won't save you from other tracking technologies. Presumably the headset will have a wireless chip whose MAC can be tracked, or, worse, it'll have an RFID chip specially-built for government tracking.

People will walk around with headsets to cover their entire face, defeating the cameras.

Let's face it, you're won't going to walk around with a VR headset on your face unless you're a) wireless connected to a server, or b) enjoy taking a heavy backpack or cart of gear everywhere.

Or just http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/42560...

Face Visors: http://www.sungrubbies.com/Web%20images/SolarHat-UV-Protecti...

1. I know one thing. I am tired of my picture taken whenever I walk into a store. In order to buy a bolt at that mess of a store(the big orange); my picture is taken multiple times. It pisses off customers like myself, and every year for as long as I can remember, the majority of theft is internal. The worst offenders are Management.

I think you will see a rise in people wearing desquises? Or, maybe an Indian will eventually sue the offending store on religious grounds? (steal the soul)

Yea, I'm rambling, but I sometimes feel like we lost all privacy? And yes, this is the only site I comment on anymore. I don't even trust this site. I bet they are logging in all IP's, and saving them just in case the government comes a knocking?

I feel rather similarly about number plate scanning for cars. My local supermarket lost literally £10,000+ when they installed scanners on their car park a while back and we took our custom elsewhere as a direct result. I don't know how much they make in fines, but I expect my family alone cancels out everything they made for a while after introducing the cameras. (And yes, some of that chain's stores did get pulled up for trying to charge fines that weren't justified after installing similar cameras. It made the local paper, with resulting PR about as good as you would expect.)

How long until VR headsets are the size of a eye lens? And do you really think most people want to wear a VR headset all day long?

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