Facial recognition turns out to be no match for Juggalo make-up

According to security and privacy researcher Tahkion, certain systems intended for facial recognition can be tricked with specific face-painted, black-and-white Juggalo designs. Who would have thought that.

According to Tahkion The trick uses the fact that facial recognition systems often take certain contrast points of the human face as their starting point, for example the position of the nose and the place where the chin meets the neck. Because black make-up is often placed above the chin with Juggalo make-up, a raised jawline is formed, as it were, which deceives the neural networks of at least certain facial recognition systems, according to the researcher. Juggalo is the term for fans of the band Insane Clown Posse.

The researcher states that using makeup such as dark eyeliner eye usually insufficient is. According to him, recognition technology cannot just recognize the same person if a photo with the specific Juggalo make-up is already available, because it is difficult to consistently wear the same make-up twice.

The website The Outline reports that systems such as Apple’s Face ID probably cannot be fooled with this either, since the sensor determines whether there is a match based on depth information. Based on the screenshots published by the researcher, he uses facial recognition software available via GitHub. The so-called ‘corpse paint’ of certain metal bands appears less effective in evading facial recognition.