> LIDAR would be preferrable to cameras when it comes to privacy actually

Right, but how likely is it that there will be LIDAR and no cameras (especially given the low cost of the latter)?

I don't think it makes a difference. Dense lidar goes you more information than 2d colour imagery.

There are SLAM cameras that only select "interesting" points, which are privacy preserving. They are also very low power.

People saying LIDARs can't recognize colors or LIDARs can't take pictures don't know what they are talking about.

They're just fancy cameras with synced flashes. Not Star Trek material-informational converting transporters. Sometimes they rotate, sometimes not. Often monochrome, but that's where Bayer color filters come in. There's nothing fundamentally privacy preserving or anything about LIDARs.

I’d definitely feel much better if most cameras in the world were replaced by LIDAR. I feel like it would be much tougher to have a flawless facial recognition program with LIDAR alone