đź•’ 4 min read.
27th October 2024, Manchester, UK
Photo by @nowbelov on Unsplash
Monday 19th February is forever crystalised in Jason Robbins’ mind. It started like any normal day; dropping his son off at school, before returning to work from home. “It was just after 11 when I got the first messages.” Recounted Jason, his voice shaking. “The first messages were from concerned friends asking if I was OK. Then my twitter feed went crazy. I was tagged in several different videos of someone, who looked just like me, racially abusing and punching a woman working in my local Apple store, before running off with stolen shopping. It was the Apple store a 10 min walk from where I was sitting, but I hadn’t left my house since returning from the school run”. “The messages on Twitter were vitriolic. I was being called all kinds of names. Many messages were threats, some listed where I worked and what I did.”
By 11:30 Jason’s manager had been in touch. She informed Jason he’d been suspended pending an investigation to reports circulating on social media. Jason was told not to return to head office for his own safety as there were already protesters outside.
At 12:15 police arrested Jason at his home. “My head was spinning,” recalled Jason, “I knew it wasn’t me, but it’s almost impossible to prove otherwise. The police didn’t believe me; the CCTV made it look like I was the perpetrator. As I’d been working from home alone, I had no one to provide an alibi.”
Jason thought being arrested would be the worst thing to happen, but new lows followed. Many of his friends broke contact, blocking him on Facebook and Whatsapp, and not returning his calls. “That was awful, but nothing compared to what happened to my son,” tears running down Jason’s face, “he’s only 9. He was uninvited from his best friend’s birthday at the weekend. Shortly after the bullying started. It’s nothing to do with him.”
With the help of a private detective, who scoured CCTV images, Jason was able to prove that the person in the racist robbery was not him. After three months, the police dropped all charges. By then the damage was done. Jason had been sacked from his job, although is in the process of appealing against the decision. The most heartbreaking thing for Jason is what has happened to his once confident and highly popular son. “He lost most of his friends, he cries almost every day, he’s never been like that. This school year we had to send him to a new school, but even there he’s lost his spark. I really hope he recovers”.
Jason is one of an increasing number of people who have fallen victim to face cloning. Modern 3D printers, that cost under £150, combined with advanced AI enabled software, allow people to print off hyper realistic face masks that cost under £10 per mask to make. The latest software requires a single photo of the person to clone (the average LinkedIn profile photo is often good enough), and 3 photos (from different angles) and two measurements of the mask wearer. The mask produced isn’t good enough to fool biometric devices (e.g. unlocking phones or passport scanners), but are convincing enough for most people not to notice the person is wearing a mask.
Whilst there are many harmless applications of the technology, e.g. for stag and hen parties, there is a concerning rise in use for crime. “Criminals wear cheap, yet very convincing, masks to conduct criminality. CCTV, which used to yield excellent results, is no longer reliable. Catching and prosecuting people is becoming increasingly more difficult.” Explains Shirely Thompson, assistant commissioner of the Met Police. “The CPS is no longer taking on cases where CCTV is the only evidence. They claim cheap, realistic face masks means it can’t be trusted. Unless offenders are caught red handed, we have no hope of getting a successful conviction.”
Chloe Richardson, another victim of face cloning, has started a partition on Change.org calling for the government to take this threat seriously. “I want this debated in Parliament. It seems nobody is talking about this, or even aware of the problems it is causing.”
Protestors increasingly feel the need to wear masks too. One woman, who asked not to be named, regularly attends marches. She claims the combination of the police using facial recognition, and the latest additions to the Criminal Justice Bill, that give the police the power to force protestors to remove face coverings, means she has no option but to wear a realistic face mask at protests.
Ted Griffins, CEO of My Face or Yours?, a start up, says his company's software can help identify fake face masks with 85% accuracy. The Metropolitan Police trialled the technology at this year’s Notting Hill Carnival; they have yet to publish the results.
Amnesty International criticised the trial. A spokesperson said “The reason people feel the need to wear fake masks is due to the overbearing powers that the Police in the UK have. We strongly object to the use of this technology”.
To some the availability of realistic face masks used by criminals causes much fear. Others feel they are necessary to feel safe in, what they consider, a police state. Either way the availability of cheap, easy to produce, hyper realistic face masks will have an increasingly large affect on the society we live in.
This article was published on 26th Apr 2024.
Using realistic face masks has happened in real life, not just Hollywood films. Wikipedia has a list of crimes involving silicone masks, including one that sent an innocent person to prison back in 2010.
A study in 2019 concluded that the majority of people couldn’t tell a hyper-realistic mask apart from a real person.
If 3D printers are not yet capable of printing highly convincing face masks, it is only a matter of time.
There are grounds for hope. Legislators can first make the possession, or wearing of, a hyper-realistic mask without good reason illegal. The fines and punishments need to be harsh enough to deter behaviour. The second prong of attack is with technology. 3D printers could be mandated to use software that prevents the creation of face masks, in a similar way that photocopiers don’t allow the copying of bank notes.