A Los Angeles-based digital artist has created masks that he says emulate the way software recognises human faces, in a statement about the privacy implications of surveillance technology.

Sterling Crispin says he’s used “state of the art face recognition and face detection algorithms” to guide an evolving system toward the production of human-like faces.

“This exposes the way the machine and the surveillance state view human identity and makes aspects of these invisible power structures visible”.

The artist told Planet Biometrics that the most disturbing potential  facial recognition potential could become real if the tool became a commonplace tool that anyone has access to.

“Companies are creating API's that allow for developers to create fairly sophisticated applications with access to huge databases. Imagine being able to 'dox' someone and reveal their home address, phone number, and other personal details just by taking a photo of their face. This is a near reality at this point and it enables a kind of personal invasion that has never been possible before”.

Created by 3D-printers, Sterlings says his masks that could be worn by people, presenting cameras with an image that is no longer an actual face, yet still recognisable as one to software.