---
title: "Protestors Wearing Head-Mounted Cameras Scan 13,000 Faces in DC"
description: "Using head-mounted cameras to scan faces in Washington, D.C., Fight for the Future protestors hoped to draw attention to facial recognition surveillance."
date: "2019-11-15"
modified: "2019-11-15"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/protestors-cameras-scan-faces-dc"
categories:
  - "Artificial Intelligence"
tags:
  - "facial recognition"
  - "fight for the future"
  - "rekognition"
  - "the digest"
---

# Protestors Wearing Head-Mounted Cameras Scan 13,000 Faces in DC

![Using head-mounted cameras to scan faces in Washington, D.C., Fight for the Future protestors hoped to draw attention to facial recognition surveillance.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/protestors-head-mounted-cameras-scan-13000-faces-dc.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Fight for the Future\</em\>*

## Scanner Darkly

Three activists with cameras mounted to their heads scanned the faces of more than 13,000 people in Washington, D.C., on Thursday as part of a [protest](<https://www.businessinsider.com/facial-recognition-protesters-scan-13000-people-2019-11>) organized by digital rights group Fight for the Future.

"This should probably be illegal," Fight for the Future's deputy director Evan Greer said in a [press release](<https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2019-11-14-now-digital-rights-activists-are-using-facial/>), "but until Congress takes action to ban facial recognition surveillance, it’s terrifyingly easy for anyone — a government agent, a corporation, or just a creepy stalker — to conduct biometric monitoring and violate basic rights at a massive scale."

## On the Hunt

Fight for the Future [livestreamed](<https://www.twitch.tv/videos/508186090>) the protest, keeping a tally of the number of faces its hazmat suit-clad activists scanned using Amazon's [controversial Rekognition software](<https://futurism.com/protesters-amazon-ice>).

The protestors specifically targeted areas around Capitol Hill as they were hoping to identify lobbyists, journalists, and congresspeople. In the end, they managed to scan 13,740 faces — 25 of which belonged to lobbyists, seven to journalists, and one to Democratic Rep. Mark DeSaulnier of California.

## Face in the Crowd

Anyone who was in the D.C. area on Thursday can upload a photo of themselves to Fight for the Future's [Scan Congress](<https://www.scancongress.com/>) website to see if the activists scanned their face. The group will delete those photos — as well as the biometric data it collected — in two weeks.

"We did this to make a point," Greer said, before adding that "someone else could use the same technology to do unimaginable harm."

**READ MORE:** [Facial-recognition protesters put smartphones on their heads to scan the faces of 13,000 Washington, DC, inhabitants](<https://www.businessinsider.com/facial-recognition-protesters-scan-13000-people-2019-11>) \[*Business Insider*\]

**More on Rekognition:** *[Protesters Interrupt Amazon Event to Decry Its Work With ICE](<https://futurism.com/protesters-amazon-ice>)*

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)