Worried about facial recognition technology? Juggalo makeup prevents involuntary surveillance

Fans of the band Insane Clown Posse, who are known as juggalos, are protesting their identification as a gang by the FBI in a 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment. (Photo: Al Drago/Getty Images)
Fans of the band Insane Clown Posse, who are known as juggalos, are protesting their identification as a gang by the FBI in a 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment. (Photo: Al Drago/Getty Images)

There are plenty of people who have fears about facial recognition, even though it recently helped authorities identify the Capital Gazette shooting suspect.

The technology can be inaccurate, and those inaccuracies affect minorities much more often than white males. Also, facial recognition may not even be legal, and its use raises concerns about violating civil rights, like when it was used to monitor protesters in Maryland. People who fear a future where Big Brother is always watching won’t be comforted to know that China already utilizes this type of technology for mass surveillance.

However, you can avoid such surveillance by doing this: Become a juggalo or a juggalette.

The way to truly stick it to the man has been in front of us this whole time!

Fans of the rap group Insane Clown Posse, who are known as juggalos and juggalettes, often paint their faces to mimic the members of the band, Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. One Twitter user, @tahkion, a computer science blogger for WonderHowTo, has discovered that makeup is the foil to facial recognition technology.

Facial recognition works by the technology’s ability to pinpoint specific areas of contrast on the human face, like where a person’s eyes or nose are. However, juggalo makeup involves black paint below the mouth and covering the chin.

Although Insane Clown Posse may not know how magnets work, they’re probably more than thrilled that magnets are throwing off computer learning algorithms.

That said, juggalo makeup is not perfect protection against all facial recognition technologies. According to the Outline, Apple’s Face ID doesn’t rely on visible light and instead uses depth perception — so the new black chin you just panted on yourself won’t protect you from almighty Apple.

Most Insane Clown Posse fans save their makeup for concerts, but maybe this will start a new fashion trend?

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.