Personal data is obtained by Ray-Ban from Meta

With the advancement of technology and the internet, it is increasingly difficult to control or prevent our data from becoming easily accessible. However, some technologies can make this situation even worse, as is the case with Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses.

It turns out that two Harvard students, AnhPhu Nguyen and Caine Ardayfio, have added even more fuel to this privacy discussion with a project where they use Meta’s smart glasses to obtain people’s personal data just by looking at them. Check details!

Also read:

Apple prepares cheaper Apple Vision model and new smart glasses to compete with Ray-Ban Meta
Ray-Ban Meta is the new smart glasses with generative AI and enhanced features

Students call technology I-XRAY

The students posted a video showing the technology, which they named I-XRAY. With it, they were able to obtain information such as full name, address, telephone number, name of relatives and personal data about strangers through facial recognition.

The technology does not use any type of new or self-created software, it only combines some that already exist within Ray-Ban Meta, with the use of public databases. What happens is that they capture live images through the glasses doing a live on Instagram, and from there the artificial intelligence (AI) system uses facial recognition to identify the individual and use the database. Check out the video:

There is a variety of information that can be obtained from this method, such as the person’s full name and even relatives such as parents, or full addresses, all extracted from publicly accessible databases. And yet the result is bizarre and shocking, because in a matter of seconds anyone can have their information exposed just by recognizing their face.

Privacy exposed at a glance

The demonstration proves how, just by using Ray-Ban Meta glasses and some tools already available in a simple and easy way, anyone can identify strangers in the middle of the street. In the video they even do a test by approaching strangers on the subway and asking personal questions, pretending they know them, but with information they just got there at that moment.

In other words, it is something that already exists and is tangible. It is not a limited technology, and although the glasses are not cheap, they are also not extremely expensive and unaffordable for most people. It is not a dystopian future from science fiction films but reality, with tools already available on the market.

Among these tools, some have stood out precisely in this aspect, such as PimEyes, which was described by The New York Times as an “alarmingly accurate” facial search engine and which is already being widely used.

PimEyes allows anyone to search for information about others using just a photo of their face. Additionally, cases like Clearview AI, which uses facial recognition to help law enforcement, have raised concerns about the misuse of these technologies.

In the case of the project by students Nguyen and Ardayfio, the difference is precisely the combination of these capabilities in a discreet and easily accessible device. This is because Ray-Ban Meta glasses pass off as any other pair of ordinary glasses, which makes it difficult for people to realize when they are being filmed or monitored.

The privacy challenge with smart glasses like Ray-Ban Meta

The privacy issue with smart glasses is now even more alarming. The device is not exactly new, as models have already been on the market for a few years. And the discussions about them too.

In 2013, for example, Google Glass was the subject of controversy precisely because people didn’t like the idea of ​​being filmed at any time in public places without their consent. But this issue ended up being alleviated over the years with the popularization of smartphones and social networks. Nowadays it’s easy to find someone filming in public places.

Furthermore, in the case of older devices like Google Glass, it was easy to know when someone was around using it, as they stood out. Nowadays this doesn’t happen, as glasses like Ray-Ban are very discreet and can easily be confused with normal glasses.

And although they come with a so-called “privacy light” that stays on when they are recording, it is still very difficult to notice when this happens. The light is also very discreet, so in bright or busy outdoor locations, it is practically imperceptible.

Remembering that Meta, the company responsible for the glasses, recommends that users respect the privacy of others and use clear gestures or voice controls when capturing videos. But unfortunately, these guidelines can be easily ignored, and not everyone will follow these “rules of etiquette” for responsible use of wearable devices.

Is there still a way to delete your data online?

The short and thick answer is: no. As the students themselves state in the project document, nowadays you can use reverse face search engines to remove your information from certain databases. This can make the availability of your information a little more difficult, but there is no way to completely erase your online presence.

They also revealed that the intention is not to commercialize I-XRAY but to highlight and raise awareness about these possibilities so that people can protect themselves as much as possible.

“The purpose of creating this tool is not for misuse, and we will not release it”reveal in the document.

Source: The Verge and 404media