An 18-year-old student and a 38-year-old woman were the first to be prosecuted under the ban, which came into force Saturday under sweeping emergency powers aimed at quashing violence in the protests for more democratic freedoms.

The ban, which took effect Saturday, triggered chaos for a third straight day in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

As paranoid as that sounds, the lengths to which Hong Kong protesters go to conceal their identities are a consequence of living in the shadow of Big Brother.