Stealth clothing vs. government spying

With every passing year, the technology of surveillance gets more and more advanced.  Where as before you might have had to worry about someone taking your picture from afar or bugging your office with some sort of audio device, now the biggest problem is with the high-flying, thermal imaging devices known as aerial drones.  While the government sees these as viable intelligence collection devices for both home and abroad, many see them as little more than another attempt to invade our privacy.  One person decided that this wasn't OK with him and did something about it via a new fashion line.

The man is Adam Harvey and he’s a “wearable technology” artist from New York City.  For years he’s been mixing fashion with the ability to confuse surveillance devices, from a hair and make-up style that screws with facial recognition software to a device that causes a counter-flash whenever someone tries to use flash photography to take your picture.  The latest technology consists of garments made from metalized fibers. These clothes reflect heat and mess up drones’ ability to use their thermal imaging, thus making you virtually invisible to their detection.

To make it even more interesting, and to drive home the point he’s trying to make about surveillance, the collection of stealthy material clothing includes hijabs and burquas - two types of clothing worn primarily in countries where drones are used on a regular basis.  Naturally, the government isn’t too happy about this one.

The clothing is, however, more artistic than functional. Harvey has stated openly that he has no intentions of creating the next hit fashion trend, but only that he’s trying to say something about how he feels concerning the trend of rampant drone surveillance.  You can check out his full line of “wearable technology,” including the other items I mentioned, on his website.  If you want to ensure your own protection against spying drones, however, be prepared to pay a pretty penny, cause these things don’t come cheap.

Aerial Drone photo courtesy of Sangos via Wikicommons