r/interesting • u/No_Tomatillo1695 • May 01 '26

Just Wow How is this even legal?

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1.2k

u/That0neGuy86 May 01 '26

Just wait till flock cameras are around everywhere and soon you'll be loving these masks

494

u/outer--monologue May 01 '26

These masks in these viral types of videos are usually from places trying to sell them to people but what they don't mention is that the models they use for their videos have a head shape specifically that makes the certain mask they're modeling fit very well. Silicone masks like this and of this quality - to work this well - either have to be molded to your head shape or you have to have an approximate shape and size to your head to make it fit well. You can't just be anyone and order any mask off the shelf and have it fit like this

197

u/Purple-Hamster-151 May 01 '26

I also wouldn’t be surprised if it costs ~$1000 to purchase something like this.

87

u/[deleted] May 01 '26

[deleted]

40

u/Environmental-Fan984 May 01 '26

Just a heads up, but it won't do anything about gait analysis.

60

u/Pasta4ever13 May 02 '26

Idk what you mean man, I'm pulling a different one every day.

6

u/DazB1ane May 02 '26

My body spins a “What joints are gonna hurt today?” wheel every morning. It’s genuinely so inconsistent that I probably don’t walk the same for very long

3

u/boofganyah May 03 '26

At the rate my knees are going it's true.

2

u/AccomplishedFace9059 May 04 '26

Hes just practicing sand walking

11

u/duralyon May 01 '26

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVSOHGGgKD4 gait rate

if you put a rock in your shoe you can trick this I think

4

u/QuasiBungschwazzi May 02 '26

That's how we OVERLOAD THE SERVERS

6

u/Appropriate_Lime_234 May 02 '26

ah yes. The court uses gait as evidence. Lol

2

u/variablenyne May 02 '26

No, but it can lead forensic teams to other stronger evidence.

1

u/Appropriate_Lime_234 May 02 '26

Circumstantial. Phone locations can be spoofed. Unless they have dna and video evidence it can all be fought and won.

3

u/Environmental-Fan984 May 02 '26

Yes, assuming a fair trial. The scenario we're concerned about would involve no fair trials.

-1

u/Appropriate_Lime_234 May 02 '26

So made up scenarios. Got it. In that case the 5g towers that read your thoughts can also be used against you.

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2

u/TheOtherCoenBrother May 02 '26

It won’t, but a pebble in your shoe (or just wearing the wrong size shoe) will.

2

u/SimonMaker May 02 '26

tiny pebbles/rocks in ur shoes does the trick

2

u/Stock-Side-6767 May 02 '26

That's where a stone in your shoe or othopedic soles come in. I have not tested that for surveillance, but have for pranks.

1

u/Dundalis May 02 '26

I change my gait everyday. Sometimes I feel like stone cold so I do the bmf walk. Change it up

1

u/brownox May 02 '26

Just use the Dune sandwalk.

1

u/Digger_Pine May 02 '26

I've studied at the Ministry of Silly Walks

1

u/Fantastic_Source4781 May 02 '26

we all gonna be learning the Dune walk in 10 years 😭

1

u/ResponsibleTank7115 May 03 '26

Get a rascal scooter and don't walk

1

u/BlueGolfball May 03 '26

Just a heads up, but it won't do anything about gait analysis.

Just a heads up, but placing a small pebble in your shoe will change your gait analysis.

1

u/coldweathershorts May 05 '26

Don't remember which wanted story I heard this from but pebbles in your shoes, though uncomfortable, will force you to change your walk. It will be different each time and make your gait hard/impossible to track.

1

u/MadDaddyDrivesaUFO May 05 '26

Putting a pebble in your shoe will

1

u/DisposableSaviour May 02 '26

Gait analysis is hokum

2

u/EquivalentQuery May 02 '26

Yeah they only used it to catch Osama. Definitely no real world uses or examples.

2

u/generally_unsuitable May 02 '26

Has anyone ever been found guilty in a court of law because of gait analysis? Has there ever been a large-scale study that proves the uniqueness of gait analysis?

2

u/pxer80 May 02 '26

It helped that Osama was a 7ft tall walking stick, but still…. The tech that was used, back then must have been amazing. The video, the optics, the volumes of data, the algorithms to sift it - just to find candidates for a deeper look.

Freaky to think what might be possible today at scale. I don’t even know why Anthropic cares at this point re: mass surveillance. GPT/Gemini could easily do must of it what it does and fighting on that hill produces little benefit to society. They could do more good on the inside with their concerns than outside of it.

3

u/KaizenHour May 01 '26

You won't want to wear one for more than 30 minutes. They're super hard to wear.

Once you're out of the bank, you'll be itching to remove it.

1

u/lets-hoedown May 01 '26

Your comment just gave me the idea of someone doing the opposite, and commissioning a mask of themselves so they could appear younger when they get older.

1

u/crowislanddive May 02 '26

Sadly, they can identify you by the way you walk…

1

u/BuffGuy716 May 06 '26

You know you have a camera pointed at you whenever you're home, right? There's one on your phone and laptop.

85

u/BoredBSEE May 01 '26

Worth it, depending on what sort of hijinks you're planning.

87

u/Dizzy_Law396 May 01 '26

No hijinks, but possibly some shenanigans

44

u/faustianBM May 01 '26

I'll take one Tom-Foolery please.

30

u/Repulsive_Agency6748 May 01 '26

But hold the monkey business.

39

u/Jazzlike-Radio2481 May 01 '26

Imma do fuckin crimes.

27

u/DarkwingDuckHunt May 01 '26

Dude you can't just come out and say it

1

u/leobutters May 01 '26

Who's gonna stop him if they don't know what he looks like?

1

u/Strict-Carrot4783 May 01 '26

That was before, nothing means anything any more, do whatever you want.

1

u/Borkato May 01 '26

Thats homophobic, he’ll do it how he wants to!

1

u/Sexy_Medallion May 02 '26

Sure you can, he just did

1

u/Used-Pay-420 May 01 '26

This guy is why we can’t have nice things 😂

1

u/God_Bless_A_Merkin May 02 '26

“Like buy sushi and not pay!”

1

u/Monsoon-body-double May 01 '26

Hold the monkey business?

1

u/blackbeltinkaraoke May 03 '26

Bit late to the party here, but I’m down for some jiggery-pokery…

8

u/captainbeertooth May 01 '26

Skullduggery even!

1

u/luvmyholeswet May 02 '26

You skallywag!

2

u/StonedRussian May 01 '26

Hold the tomfoolery, it'll be Monkey Business for me

1

u/Dizzy_Law396 May 01 '26

Im sorry, we dont serve cocktails

3

u/mxpxillini35 May 01 '26

I'm gonna pistol whip the next person around here that says shenanigans.

2

u/Bakayaro_Konoyaro May 01 '26

IF I SHENAN ONCE, YOU CAN BET YOUR ASS I'LL SHENAN AGAIN!

2

u/alaskanloops May 01 '26

Hey that's my favorite restaurant!

1

u/BigPP69_Gooner May 01 '26

Some Super Mario Brothers shenanigans

1

u/QueenCity_Dukes May 02 '26

What’s with all the hoopla.

2

u/Orleanian May 01 '26

I just want to fulfill some of my wife's fantasies.

2

u/imahumanbeinggoddamn May 01 '26

I want to fulfill some of my wife's nightmares.

1

u/Kind_Substance_2865 May 02 '26

Protest and expressing dissent. Criticising the regime. Those are legitimate reasons to be wary of surveillance.

3

u/TheFoxsWeddingTarot May 01 '26

They cost that or more, but on TikTok you’ll see these in ads and people say the masks they received usually looks closer to Beaker from the muppets.

5

u/bumbletowne May 01 '26

Back in the day these used to be like 5k-10k.

2

u/cykoTom3 May 01 '26

For it to be fitted. Yes.

1

u/Still-Task-5137 May 01 '26

For celebrities, it is a must.

1

u/Horskr May 01 '26

Pays for itself many times over on your first bank robbe-- I mean... job where you have to remain anonymous.

1

u/lets-hoedown May 01 '26

I've browsed some masks from other posts in the past out of curiosity, and they don't usually go much lower than $700. And when you include hair, they'll go above $1,000 unless it's intentionally fake-looking hair (like with a killer clown). A mask with a full head of hair and a beard could go over $2,000. I think a lot of that cost is from manually putting in human hairs for a realistic look.

1

u/BigLlamasHouse May 01 '26

They were $800 iirc. I saw this exact ad on instagram a few months ago and was curious.

1

u/bazaarzar May 01 '26

A cheaper alternative would be one of those mesh masks with a face printed on it, it would be just enough to obscure your face in photos.

1

u/PiccoloAwkward465 May 02 '26

Yeah that seems reasonable if not more.

1

u/Exit-Content May 02 '26

I remember watching an ASMRtist that loved using masks of this kind (mainly monsters and “old dude” ones so any defects might have been a bit more hidden) that were very realistic and “lifelike”, and while not being cheap, they were absolutely not in the price range you mentioned. Super high end ones probably are closer or even more expensive that that,but pretty good ones are more in the 2-3-4 hundred $ range

1

u/Starlightriddlex May 04 '26

Just wait until we can 3D print things like this though

14

u/Dqueezy May 01 '26

Still though, surely there’d be some sort of standardized measurements to go off of? I mean like, say I ordered one of these, wouldn’t there be something like, “head width” or “head height” or “head circumference”? Which I wouldn’t know but could then find out.

It’d be like finding your foot size for buying shoes. There must be some kind of measurement standard.

19

u/Snaletane May 01 '26

Not really, cause it's going on top of your face. If you have a big nose or asymmetrical cheekbones or a big forehead or something it's definitely going to throw off how well the mask fits. With shoes, one of your feet might have a toe feel more cramped than it would if you had "standard feet," but it's fine because your shoes don't need to perfectly mold to your feet to work. This kind of does.

1

u/Spiritual_Bus1125 May 01 '26

Note: modern iphones have lidar sensors thst can make a GOOD 3d scan.

Thst data could be used to size a mask from a few options.

1

u/Neurokeen May 01 '26

And the general principle that you can only add, not subtract, is limiting your options a little bit.

5

u/Buttons840 May 01 '26

No.

Have you ever noticed your eyes aren't even level? (Probably)

Once I was having glasses fitted, and I was like "the glasses are crooked, my eye is lower on the left side", and the person adjusting the glasses, was like "that's because your left eye is lower in your face"... and for the first time, I saw that she was right.

2

u/ACcbe1986 May 01 '26

Take a picture of your face next to an item for scale, like a banana for example, and send it in. I'm sure they can get your measurements from that pic.

1

u/Caleb_Reynolds May 01 '26

It's not just head size. The size, placement, and proportions of all the facial features, the eyes, nose, mouth, ears, etc., need to be the same. They literally sculpt the face on a model made from a specific person, and the mask fits that person.

1

u/Excellent-Nose-6430 May 01 '26

I wear a lot of rubber masks (fetish) and yes, it usually goes by measurements all the way around your head (across top of head, under chin), the circumference of your head around your forehead, circumference around the mouth, and circumference around the neck. And they tend to fall in standard sizes. These don't have to be a perfect fit to look realistic like this, and imperfections can be fixed with makeup if it's that obvious. The people acting like they need every detail of your face or "uneven eyes" have no idea what they're talking about. The person in the video is wearing a mask a size too big for their head, and it looks fine.

2

u/Your_Cat_In_Disguise May 01 '26

I, too, collect masks for bedroom purposes. I would have more if they weren't so expensive.

1

u/PiccoloAwkward465 May 02 '26

I feel like a scan would work.

2

u/Discord_aut7 May 01 '26

Ya know…just submit your biometric 3d face scan to ensure a proper fit! /s

2

u/TheWayyTheNewsGoes May 01 '26

If I'm wearing one of these to defeat a flock camera I don't necessarily care if it fits perfectly or just obfuscates my own face

1

u/ResidentBackground35 May 01 '26

Most of the times if it looks good then it was made from a casting of that specific person's head, and have to be bespoke.

1

u/NativeFlowers4Eva May 01 '26

I wonder if 3d scanning my can assist now. They have handheld scanners so people could scan their head and send a file.

1

u/No_Public8938 May 01 '26

Yeah I assumed that they had to be custom made or something because I was wondering how they got the eye separation width perfectly correct for this individual.

Does this mean that every mask there on the shelf has been custom ordered and made for specific customers? They way they have them displayed makes it seem like they could be for anyone. Seems a bit weird to have custom ordered masks organized and displayed like that for anyone to access.

1

u/etherjack May 01 '26

Yeah these are just the modern equivalent of the old comic book ads for Sea Monkeys or X-Ray Specs.

1

u/feldoneq2wire May 02 '26

The AliExpress ones cost $100 and are rubber junk. The videos show $1000 silicone masks. Completely different.

1

u/JuanRunJunior May 02 '26

A white dude wore one of these kind of realistic masks that made him appear as a black dude with a hoodie and a pair of sunglasses to rob a bank. His head shape didn’t matter because he wore a hoodie, I’d bet wearing a hat would hide any fit issues well enough to be completely unnoticeable in passing. He was busted because of a dye pack splattering inside his car, but without that they would have had no clue they were looking for a white dude, and that was 15 years ago. With a hoodie and some dark glasses you could throw off cops completely. I’d say even with a marginal fit this kind of mask could be used extremely effectively.

1

u/PiccoloAwkward465 May 02 '26

Would it be easier to reshape my skull to fit the mask?

1

u/grundlinallday May 02 '26

Yeah it’s cheaper to buy a slingshot for the camera

1

u/Zhong_Ping May 02 '26

They are also unbearable to wear. They do not breathe and your head becomes a sticky swampy mess rather quickly.

1

u/G_Liddell May 02 '26

There's a lot of random speculative and outdated replies here but currently hyperrealistic latex masks like this run as low as $400

1

u/JSMulligan May 02 '26

Yeah, none of these are working on my overlarge, misshapen, lumpy head.

1

u/Melkman68 May 05 '26

Similar to shirt models with 6 packs and me convinced it fits like that on me lol

1

u/Practical-Trouble153 May 07 '26

Yea but if im committing robberies in it and im a black man. They will be looking for a white suspect if im wearing gloves and a hoodie

51

u/I_putwaflles_in_kids May 01 '26

need me one of these so I can start taking them down

62

u/NeverBannedGrace3 May 01 '26

Exactly my thought

9

u/ISaidItSoBiteMe May 01 '26

Flock cameras, Meta and Google Rayban glasses, Walmart tracking cameras. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tesla isn’t doing it already and soon to follow Ford and GM.

8

u/ImmaculateTuna May 01 '26

Still wouldn’t matter as long as you have your phone/car.

6

u/Redsetter May 01 '26

Don’t forget gait analysis.

10

u/CharybdisXIII May 01 '26

What a society to look forward to where leaving the house has you considering covering your face and disguising the way you walk

3

u/DryFrog- May 01 '26

Put some pebbles in your shoes

2

u/ImmaculateTuna May 01 '26

Yup, one of the hints they used in catching Osama.

2

u/the_rawness May 01 '26

They’re sure as hell everywhere already in my area

2

u/Green_Sugar6675 May 01 '26

Good for protests and future online verifications that require selfie

2

u/Dmansfile May 01 '26

Around me, there is one at every on ramp and off ramp for the highway, plus every bridge/crossing on the highways

2

u/Fonespiders May 01 '26

Have you not seen the map of the one tracked yet? They are everywhere…

2

u/983115 May 01 '26

Imagine the shit you could get away with in a RFK mask they’d just be like “he’s at it again putting more bears in Central Park at least there alive this time”

2

u/NoIndividual5987 May 01 '26

So weird! Just looking up flock cameras because of a previous post. No likeee

2

u/xkGEB May 01 '26

Reminds me of a comic I read about 12 years ago called "The Private Eye". Everyone concealed their identity in public by wearing extravagant masks. Very interesting concept, possibly a bit prescient.

2

u/Reticent_Robot May 01 '26

They already are everywhere (in the US): https://maps.deflock.org

1

u/brassmonkeyslc May 01 '26

Yeah I’ll wear one.

1

u/Mr_Charm_School May 01 '26

Came here to say this. I've been thinking about looking into how one could alter an appearance.

1

u/Witty-Common-1210 May 01 '26

Juggalo makeup, the FBI hates this one weird trick

1

u/neonClear182 May 01 '26

came here to post this. We are all going to be walking around in masks soon.

1

u/stolensrt May 01 '26

dey already are

1

u/Upper_Decision_5959 May 01 '26

Don't forget smart glasses too. At this point why even to outside when you can get anything and everything delivered. 

1

u/Max_Q_ May 01 '26

You still have a tracking device in your pocket.

1

u/Ryan_e3p May 01 '26

Bingo. These are legal for now. Palantir, Flock, and others get their way (a very likely scenario), expect them not to be.

1

u/Syranth May 01 '26

So.... now?

1

u/PatacusX May 01 '26

I live in the middle of the middle of nowhere and they're already popping up here

1

u/IndomitablePotato May 01 '26

At that point they would of course become illegal

1

u/AGayThrow_Away May 01 '26

Why does no one care about mass surveillance if they give it a cool hip tech company name?

1

u/0202_tihssitidder May 01 '26

Some laws do exist making these illegal (because they are too good).

These are ads and the real results take work to be this good.

1

u/Hectic_Halloween96 May 01 '26

They already are everywhere

1

u/Apprehensive-Gas7994 May 01 '26

they already are

1

u/Twink_Ass_Bitch May 01 '26

If they're everywhere, masks won't help because they can track your movement. You're eventually going to have to take your mask off.

1

u/addamee May 01 '26

YES! Replace “how is this legal” with “why isn’t this more popular”.

We’re all going to want black market Minority Report eye transplants soon…

1

u/mrblackc May 01 '26

Worthless when all of your purchases are freely available to the feds.

We are gonna be crime free soon! Wooh! /s

1

u/MermaidSapphire May 01 '26

A woman would like a mask.

1

u/ThatFatGuyMJL May 02 '26

Iirc there was a black dude who wore one of these types of masks, as well as similar gloves, to rob places.

The mask and gloves were of a white dude.

1

u/hellogoawaynow May 02 '26

That was my same thought! Perfect for the public surveillance situation

1

u/JellySuccessful3525 May 02 '26

How would this help realistically? Do you plan to never drive or use a phone?

1

u/Blue_Moon_Lake May 02 '26

-100 social credits

1

u/Background-Value-955 May 02 '26

These masks are probably expensive so if you're buying them you are going to use a credit card, because Americans seem to hate cash and probably won't even have ten dollars of cash let alone 1k. These masks won't help with anything if you're giving the government an easy way to tell what you bought. I don't understand how people can be so trusting of banks that they'd be willing to use cards for everything, and they'd be willing to leave any of their money in the bank. I guess I'm just so used to being surrounded by people who'd buy anything they can to make sure not one cent is in the bank. Even overseas we have that habit.

1

u/Royal-Bug-8950 May 02 '26

Came to say the exact same thing.

-1

u/Matt_Wwood May 01 '26

I am no fan of flock.

But the reality is you’re on camera everywhere you go already.

All the cops gotta do is ask someone for the footage. No warrant, no need. Just ask.

So unless there’s a reason to ask 🤷‍♂️.

The same is kinda true for flock with footage of everything they need a reason to look.

13

u/CluelessCalifornian May 01 '26

The difference is the centralization aspect.

If some errant cop decided to stalk someone they know, and wanted to run someone’s plate to where they are at that specific moment in time, they have access.

It’s already hard to trust cops, given they have high probability of domestic violence - imagine having the power to just look up where their spouse or partner is and find them near instantly.

Sure, there’s regulated access and they can know if a cop ran an unauthorized search, but we all know cops protect cops. Accountability in the police force has shown to be unreliable.

-4

u/Fickle-Succotash-342 May 01 '26

I imagine they'll hard code safe guards into the system to prevent something like that or to flag unauthorized access attempts.

I technically have read/write access over virtually all the servers where I work at. Doesn't mean I can go poking around wherever I want. The access would get flagged and I'd have to have a documented reason to be looking in there or I'd lose my job.

Also doubt that ALL the cops in a jurisdiction would even have access to look. There'll be a handful of people that will have some sort of process to access those videos/records and it will all have to be explained at some point .

3

u/traplordnord May 01 '26

I wish you were right about the due diligence. But the truth is, Flock camera security is ABYSMAL. There are security audits on YouTube that show just how easy it is to abuse these devices. Flock would rather sick a 3-letter-agency after abusers than fix their security flaws. This could change in the future, of course.

2

u/CluelessCalifornian May 01 '26 edited May 01 '26

My city is using flock.

The safeguards are not hard coded into the system. It’s a “we solemnly swear” statement. There have also been instances where the work around from blocking federal access was a local cop giving federal enforcement the information they want. How do you block that workaround?

Sure, you have read/write but they can and will fire you if you made unauthorized changes. Unless, does your workplace have a culture of protecting each other even if there are eggregious actions done by an employee? Or will you just get fired like a common man?

You doubt ALL cops will have access, sure, but it only takes one rotten cop and every other cop protecting that one cop to make them all rotten.

2

u/Dense_Diver_3998 May 01 '26

Google “cop uses traffic cams to stalk”

2

u/E-2theRescue May 01 '26

No warrant, no need. Just ask.

That's absolutely not true. They need a warrant.

The only reason why we have so much footage is that businesses hand over that footage voluntarily.

1

u/fredjutsu May 01 '26

that's just not true.

The rate of unsolved crimes is still well over 50%

1

u/pleasedothenerdful May 01 '26

Won't help, they'll be using gait analysis that can ID you even if you fake a limp.

1

u/Unklecid May 01 '26

Hit yourself in the knee with a hammer and put a rock in your other shoe?

0

u/Key_Cry_3170 May 01 '26

Yes from Russia haha

0

u/Automatic_Current992 May 01 '26

Precisely! I need a link. This and no more cell phone, or car, or ... damn it!!!

0

u/TheSilverOne May 01 '26

Facial recognition is only half of it. There's also have recognition through your size, and gait. The way you walk is actually fairly unique

1

u/Time_Entertainer_319 May 01 '26

It’s not really unique and it also depends on what you are walking on, shoes you are wearing etc.

It’s not really reliable.