The Kids are Not Alright with Facial Recognition

Contact: Caitlin Seeley George, press@fightforthefuture.org
Evan Alfandre and Will McCormack, invisiclip@gmail.com

High school students partner with Fight for the Future to launch Invisiclip and advocate for a future without invasive facial recognition

High school seniors Evan Alfandre and Will McCormack first learned about facial recognition while working on a project for school. After realizing the dangers of the technology, and how it’s silently being used in communities across the country without most people even knowing about it, they decided to do something about it.

Invisiclip was born: a universal clip-on, flip-up piece that can attach to any pair of glasses or sunglasses. The product is minimally invasive, about 1” wide by 2” long and covers the wearer’s nose, and is effective against both Infrared and Visible light facial recognition technologies. 

“The more that we learned about the dangers of facial recognition software, the more we desired to find a solution to the problem,” said McCormack (he/him). “Initially, we just wanted to get an A on our project, but when we realized we could really make a difference, our goals changed.”

The Invisiclip founders reached out to Fight for the Future to help promote their product and to partner up in the call to ban facial recognition. “We found out that Fight for the Future is a leading activist group in this area, so we connected with them in an effort to share ideas, publicize our invention, and keep people safe,” said Alfandre (he/him).

Fight for the Future is a national digital rights advocacy organization that has been leading the charge to ban both government and private use of facial recognition, has blocked the technology from being used at music festivals and college campuses, and has helped local activists pass laws banning the technology in Massachusetts, Oregon, California, and other states.

“When Will and Evan reached out to us, we were both impressed by their ingenuity, and also a little sad,” said Caitlin Seeley George, Campaign Director with Fight for the Future (she/her). “High school students shouldn’t have to worry about how surveillance technology is threatening their rights and their future. I remember reading 1984 in high school, but kids these days are living it. That’s just wrong.”

Fight for the Future partnered with Invisiclip to help promote their product, and are selling it on their online store. Will and Evan hope that the product can help keep people safe from the privacy violations created by the prevalence of security cameras and facial recognition software, but ultimately believe that we need to pass laws to ban the use of the technology.

“Partnering with Invisiclip is an opportunity to share this tool that people can use against facial recognition, and highlight why a ban on facial recognition is important for young people who don’t want a future where they’re under constant surveillance,” added Seeley George.

Promotional Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GB1KNELaLZSTha32rIXQ3J2NgUdMFKxp/view

Promotional Flyer: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EswnoAbyKPbeJBN_e86M_VMNoGSto5m9/view

#####