Story perspectives

UK Garments Aim to Fool Facial Recognition, Experts Warn

7/18/2026

Summary

Story summary

Rachele Didero of Cap_able and Daniel Preuß of Urban Privacy launch UK garments that embed patterns—such as cuts and infrared LEDs—to confuse facial-recognition systems.
Urban Privacy’s items and Cap_able’s knitted pieces cost €35–€65 and €560–€620 respectively.
A poll finds almost 60% see facial recognition as moving the UK toward surveillance, despite Dr. Jennifer Bell of Nottingham School of Art & Design warning the garments lack testing and cannot guarantee anonymity.

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Story summary

Rachele Didero of Cap_able and Daniel Preuß of Urban Privacy launch UK garments that embed patterns—such as cuts and infrared LEDs—to confuse facial-recognition systems.
Urban Privacy’s items and Cap_able’s knitted pieces cost €35–€65 and €560–€620 respectively.
A poll finds almost 60% see facial recognition as moving the UK toward surveillance, despite Dr. Jennifer Bell of Nottingham School of Art & Design warning the garments lack testing and cannot guarantee anonymity.