Can M.I.A.’s Anti-Surveillance Streetwear Keep Me Off the Grid—And Looking Great?

I know perfectly well that complaining about the growing presence of generative AI and muttering darkly to anyone who will listen that “they’re watching us” is giving tinfoil-hat survivalist whom everyone avoids in the checkout line at the grocery store. But honestly, thanks to the ubiquity of Ring cameras, data brokerage, and facial-recognition technology, sundry forms of surveillance are now a regular part of modern American life.

My anxiety about one day living in a Big Tech-enabled police state is real—but for the most part, it hasn’t actually altered the way I live. I use a data-scrubbing service to keep as much of my personal information offline as I can, but that’s primarily because I write for the internet and people frequently get mad enough at me that I’m vulnerable to doxxing campaigns. But beyond that, I remain glued to my unethically made iPhone, I attend political protests with my face and tattoos visible (to anyone reading this: please do as the ACLU says, not as I do), and I frequently supply my full name and email address to access questionable miscellany like a 5% discount on my dog’s small-breed kibble.

I know I need to do some work to untangle myself from the surveillance culture I fear and decry, but I’m nothing if not a lover of shortcuts, so when I was given the opportunity to try out some products from Ohmni, a clothing line launched in 2025 by musician M.I.A. with the goal of “safeguarding personal privacy and autonomy by offering items designed to block electromagnetic frequencies,” I couldn’t resist learning more.

Photo: Emma Specter

Here, at last, were cheekily literal tinfoil hats and anti-facial recognition balaclavas that drew inspiration from the style of groups like…the Irish Republican Army. No, I don’t always agree with M.I.A.’s politics, to say the least, but as I sifted through the options on Ohmni’s website, I was fairly impressed by her mettle. A “dress like me and you’ll finally be cool!”-coded celebrity clothing line, this was not.

So I just tried not to think too hard about the unholy alliance between anti-surveillance activists and right-wing charlatans as I donned the Ohmni outfit that I got to road-test, which included the Tin Foil Hat in black, the C U Invisible Trench, and the Liquid Gold Waist Bag. Dressed in all three items at once, I looked at once ready to tour Niagara Falls and/or attend an after-hours trance music DJ set in downtown LA. Indeed, as I walked my dog through my Hollywood neighborhood, I ironically felt more visible than I usually do when I wear my normal T-shirt and gym shorts. One woman stopped me to tell me she liked my coat, but mostly passersby just eyed me, likely wondering why I was wearing what looked like full-on rain gear on a typically sunny, 84-degree SoCal afternoon.