Anonymity In Protesting is a facial obscuration application aiming to help protestors stay safe and anonymous so they are able to keep protesting injustices without the fear of potential legal consequences. This app looks at a person’s face and recommends different strategies for concealing their identity by adding highlights and shadows to faces, along with different shapes, hoping to confuse facial recognition software. This app is targeted towards all protesters, with a specific focus on black and indigenous protesters.
The lack of anonymity in protesting, followed by persecution after the fact, has become increasingly common since the Ferguson protests in 2014. The AiP app uses facial recognition software similar to what is used by organizations aiming to find protesters, but instead of looking to identify them, it shows personalized ways to avoid detection. This aims to create a space where protesting injustices is a protected activity.