A Quarter of the 2003 Anti-War Protests Would Have Been Exposed to Facial Recognition
In the Spring of 2003, hundred of thousands of protestors gathered for the most significant anti-war protest since the U.S. invaded Iraq following 9/11. Similar marches occurred the same day in pockets all across the country. In New York, the official march took place along Broadway Street over a stretch of 1.6 miles starting at Herald Square and ending in Washington Square Park.
Unlike most other protests listed on this slide show, the 2003 anti-war event, if conducted in 2022, would actually face comparatively little facial recognition exposure. According to the interactive Amnesty map, just 25% of that route would be exposed to facial recognition. Though there are exceptionally large clusters of public cameras in and around Washington Square Park, the route leading towards it appears surprisingly sparse. That’s something protest organizers may want to keep in mind in the future.
