PrivacyMask: Real-world privacy protection in face ID systems

Math Biosci Eng. 2023 Jan;20(2):1820-1840. doi: 10.3934/mbe.2023083. Epub 2022 Nov 7.

Abstract

Recent works have illustrated that many facial privacy protection methods are effective in specific face recognition algorithms. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has promoted the rapid innovation of face recognition algorithms for face occlusion, especially for the face wearing a mask. It is tricky to avoid being tracked by artificial intelligence only through ordinary props because many facial feature extractors can determine the ID only through a tiny local feature. Therefore, the ubiquitous high-precision camera makes privacy protection worrying. In this paper, we establish an attack method directed against liveness detection. A mask printed with a textured pattern is proposed, which can resist the face extractor optimized for face occlusion. We focus on studying the attack efficiency in adversarial patches mapping from two-dimensional to three-dimensional space. Specifically, we investigate a projection network for the mask structure. It can convert the patches to fit perfectly on the mask. Even if it is deformed, rotated and the lighting changes, it will reduce the recognition ability of the face extractor. The experimental results show that the proposed method can integrate multiple types of face recognition algorithms without significantly reducing the training performance. If we combine it with the static protection method, people can prevent face data from being collected.

Keywords: adversarial attacks; facial recognition; neural network; nonlinear transformation; privacy protection; spatial mapping; transferability.

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Artificial Intelligence*
  • COVID-19*
  • Humans
  • Pandemics
  • Pattern Recognition, Automated / methods
  • Privacy