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mmWave radar, you won't see it coming

joshhorne.com

131–140 of 192 posts

Re: mmWave radar, you won't see it coming

#132

> Because mmWave radar doesn’t process visual light, what it sees is not personally identifiable. With machine learning improvements, identification and more are possible. From a 2021 paper on IEEE 802.11bf Wi-Fi Sensing, https://arxiv.org/pdf/2103.14918.pdf > Indeed, it has been shown that SENS-based classifiers can infer privacy-critical information such as keyboard typing, gesture recognition and activity tracking…

This statement about privacy of mmWave radar you raised made me wonder if someone haven't already tried to implement SAR[1] with mmWave radar, and quick search reveals that indeed, this is being looked into, eg.:

- https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=9136646 - https://arxiv.org/pdf/2011.00636.pdf

That said, it doesn't mean that every mmWave radar could work as SAR.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic-aperture_radar

Re: mmWave radar, you won't see it coming

#133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> leaking nude photos from someone's camera whatever happened to that meme about common ccd cameras picking up uv images that make out details through eg swimsuits, but hopefully filtered and removed in software before making it to the images?

Cameras usually include an infrared filter (also called a "hot mirror" or "IR cut") that reflects infrared radiation. Mostly because not blocking IR leads to wrong colours for scenes like sunsets where a disproportionate amount of IR radiation is there. Many smartphones (used to?) exclude this filter on the selfie-camera because no matter how hot you think you might be, it's not going to be an issue. If you want to c…

As an aside, the IR filter is often removed[0] from many cameras when using them for astrophotography. Canon[1] sell dedicated astro cameras that are modified in this way, along with other modifications.

[0] - https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-blogs/imaging-foundati... [1] - https://www.canon.co.uk/cameras/eos-ra/

Re: mmWave radar, you won't see it coming

#134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's odd that people care so much about technology "identifying them" when they have cell phones in their pocket and license plates on their car. There's not much of your daily life left after that, but I suppose it makes them feel good to imagine they're important enough to be tracked.

There is nothing odd about it, and it has nothing to do with being "important enough to be tracked". It has become almost impossible to participate in society, without every aspect of your life being recorded in some way. My Bank sells my transaction data to third parties to track my credit history and sell advertizing - they do this without my consent, or rather if I disagree, they will not have me as a customer. I…

> All of these things taken together create an information asymetry. One by one they aren't neccessarily that terrible, but by accumulating all this information - for which there is constant pressure by the more authoritarian elements of our societies - creates a digital me, that absolutely has an effect on my day to day life.

Well said.

Re: mmWave radar, you won't see it coming

#135
post #2

I've been following and building mmWave radar stuff for a little over a year now and I wanted to write an intro to help anyone get up to speed on how it works, why it's special, and what's been happening in the space.

great article, I really appreciate it! sorry that the knuckleheads here got caught up on privacy instead of discussing this interesting technology

Re: mmWave radar, you won't see it coming

#136

"One of mmWave's major advantages is its privacy-preserving nature. Because mmWave radar doesn’t process visual light, what it sees is not personally identifiable." Bullshit!

Yup. I work with MRI data. When de-identifying brain scans we have to strip the face off [0] because that's easily identifiable.

[0] https://github.com/PeerHerholz/BIDSonym for example

Re: mmWave radar, you won't see it coming

#137
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not just fix the swimsuits? Seems like a much more straightforward solution.

The problem was not swimsuits. It was any clothing that was relatively thin. Swimsuits was just an example. In any case why would we be required to don tinfoil suits every time we go to the airport?

50/50 on privacy. Sure, privacy is cool but I pity the people whom must endure seeing the shapely flabs and curves of everyday people. That's got to have a toll on anyone's psych over time, as an "occupational hazard".

Re: mmWave radar, you won't see it coming

#138

> Because mmWave radar doesn’t process visual light, what it sees is not personally identifiable. With machine learning improvements, identification and more are possible. From a 2021 paper on IEEE 802.11bf Wi-Fi Sensing, https://arxiv.org/pdf/2103.14918.pdf > Indeed, it has been shown that SENS-based classifiers can infer privacy-critical information such as keyboard typing, gesture recognition and activity tracking…

I was about to come and say the same thing. Its perfectly possible to create feature descriptors for 60gig radar, and use it to image rooms, things and possibly people. Its a privacy problem we currently are trying to overcome in AR. The problem is that because feature descriptors are so small, researchers assume that they don't contain PII. So its going to take a scandal before its taken seriously. Given that most o…

Not to the same degree but roomba seemed to survive mapping peoples houses privacy problems, and everyone seems to love Alexa. The general public prefers features over privacy.

Re: mmWave radar, you won't see it coming

#139
post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem was not swimsuits. It was any clothing that was relatively thin. Swimsuits was just an example. In any case why would we be required to don tinfoil suits every time we go to the airport?

I mean, the material has a bug that wasn't discovered until recently, so we fix the bug and re-deploy the material. It's that simple. Just embed some carbon fibers or something in the swim suit, there are tons of ways to block UV. It's like if your car seatbelts have a bug you issue a product recall. Same thing.

Hardware deployment is order of magnitudes more costly than software.

Re: mmWave radar, you won't see it coming

#140
post #35
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A couple examples to show what the mmWave data looks (bathroom, living room, etc) Intelligent fall detection using TI mmWave radar sensors https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsIo_HIk4GY&t=93s 3D Occupancy Sensing For Home and Office https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EDhJQbLNyo&t=83s As you can see the radar doesn't reveal too much, while still being able to discern a lot of what is going on in each scene.

all sensors/technology are invasive to a degree, but I would argue radar fairs well in usefulness and anonymity in comparison to other sensors. if the data were leaked, would you rather have some of your vitals and point cloud data exposed, or a video of you taking a shower?

I'd rather neither. I've handled the latter by not installing a camera in the shower.
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