I recently received a question as to why people in the constitutional culture (especially the 2nd Amendment Community) often blur faces in photographs. It was suggested to me that this practice could be intimidating to the average person and raise more questions than it answers. Thats a reasonable thought process, so I wanted to clarify a few of the reasons why this practice often occurs.
First, this practice often carries over from the special operations community - the groups of professionals who cannot have a social media presence and whose jobs and roles are not always public knowledge. Today, many of these silent professionals are retired and training or instructing privately all over this great country. For them, higher levels of privacy (than the average person) are the norm and sometimes they just carry over those preferences out of habit, or maybe for one or more of the following reasons.
Second, but related to the first post, some of the people in these photographs actively fit in the first group mentioned. I have spent time training with active soldiers from specialized units, SWAT members, undercover narcotics detectives, and some law enforcement who didn't say what their job even was. Some of these men have jobs sensitive enough that they even go the extra mile and physically cover their face if cameras are around. So, if there are blurred or covered faces, it very well could be because one or more people fit this category. The logistics involved with figuring out who is who in every picture and keeping a list of who can or cannot be shown would be a pretty massive waste of time. Naturally, the content creator would rather be safe than sorry if there is a possibility of exposing a professional LEO or military member who's safety could be impacted by that exposure. There was recently a sad example of a high-profile failure in this practice that you can read about here - White House posts – then deletes – photo outing special operators... - New York Post
Third, we have the concern of privacy for private individuals who simply do not like social media or having their photo taken. It seems to be a growing trend in many circles that people simply don't want their faces (and especially their kid's faces) on the internet. Today we have modern concerns like AI, deepfakes, data farming, and advanced tracking algorithms that motivate citizens to take their privacy much more seriously. There is also the risk that a well meaning individual might attend a course to better defend their family (concealed weapons, close quarters, etc) and they are targeted by an anti-2a activist who decides to report, red flag, or even SWAT their residence (this has happened to a myriad of conservative personalities). As a result, many citizens are happy taking the extra precautions of not being a public facing person whatsoever. So, again, instead of trying to figure out what everyone's preference is in regard to privacy we simply cover all the bases and blur everyone. I honestly do not even know the legal ramifications of posting other people's faces on a business account without their written consent, so I assume that is also a factor for many training organizations.
However, this is also why you will see photos of myself posted without the blur. Often times, since instructors know that I am a public facing account, they (or their media company) will send pictures without my face blurred, in case I want to use them for marketing or content creation. Regardless, most of the photos I post are 2nd or 3rd hand (because I constantly forget to take photos) and are already blurred before I get them. In other words, I often couldn't post an unedited photo because I don't even have one.
Fourth, many organizations do this out of principle. Many people are returning to the Constitutional understanding of private property and that, in principle, it does not matter what someone has the right to own/do if they are not allowed to own/do it privately. My friend over at Redacted LLC based his brand off this principle (as you can tell by the name). This is extremely relevant in a society and culture where all your data is being farmed and sold. People are returning to some principles of privacy and utilizing things like VPNs, alternative browsers, de-googled devices, etc. So, this overlaps in the sense that many Americans simply have a growing conviction over how their privacy is maintained. This is an evident reality when we observe "blade-runners" in Europe actively resisting the emissions surveillance systems that have been installed in their communities that, they claim, are all too similar to the social credit systems used in authoritarian societies like China. The old adage that "you don't have to worry if you don't have anything to hide" has exposed itself as one of the most destructive ideas in regard to individual liberty. Growing up, I learned from my mother (who lived there) that Communist China also understood the principle: they utilized, for ease of control, a fundamentally communal society with no sense of privacy or individualism.
Last, it has obviously become a bit of a fashion statement. Many brands market with this type of censored material purely for the aesthetic. I do this with my posts regarding the founding fathers: everyone knows who they are, but the "redacted" bar is a bit of a cool and unique approach to the same images we all have seen repeatedly in our lives. Other businesses do it to draw attention to the product they're advertising and not have their stunningly beautiful face in every product photograph distracting you from the focus of the content like Teardown Systems.
I hope this clarifies a little bit about the functional and philosophical purposes that different people have in mind when they utilize this method of maintaining their privacy. And, if the ideas behind privacy happen to interest you and you want to learn more about security and privacy (online and in real life) please like, comment, and subscribe and I will absolutely get more of that content on the docket. All photos on this post were from Kingdom Defense training events