Disturbing report shed light on some of the ways can be used to violate people’s privacy. Two Harvard students used facial recognition technology and a large language model to detect a subject’s name, occupation and other details. Their configuration (dubbed I-XRAY) can use this information to gather other information about a person, including address, phone number, family member details and, in part, Social Security Numbers, from various sources on the Internet. All this is said to happen automatically.
Although this is possible with various cameras, AnhPhu Nguyen and Caine Ardayfio chose to use Meta’s smart glasses because “they are almost indistinguishable from regular glasses” and have a camera installed. The demo video shows students quickly using the glasses. learn about the people they meet in public. Nguyen and Ardayfio address seemingly unfamiliar people by their first names, discuss their jobs, and talk about a place they may have known in the past based on data collected through a facial recognition device.
In the video, it is explained that students broadcast videos to Instagram from the glasses. The flow is monitored by computer software. Once the AI detects someone’s face, their I-XRAY system pulls more photos of that person from the internet and public information about them. The app then feeds those details back to the mobile app that Nguyen and Ardayfio built. This process may take several minutes to complete.
Students reported 404 Media They developed I-XRAY to help people understand what’s possible with this technology, and they won’t release the code they use. Nguyen said that while some people they showed the technology to suggested they could use it to network with friends or play pranks, others pointed out some serious security concerns. “Some dude could find a girl’s home address on the train and follow them home,” Nguyen said.
a Explaining some of the technology behind their system, Nguyen and Ardayfio provide resources detailing how to remove your data from the services they use for I-XRAY. Those concerned about their privacy may also want to use personal data deletion services such as DeleteMe or Hidden.
This kind of technology is not inherently new— 404 Media It points out that Meta and Google have had the ability to implement facial recognition into the camera feed for years, but haven’t made it public. But the possibility of using it in ready-made smart glasses, which seem relatively innocuous (note that the light is active when the camera is recording), may cause concern.
When asked for comment, Meta referred Engadget to this section of the terms of service regarding Facebook View, the companion app for the smart glasses:
Your responsibility for your use of Facebook View. You are responsible for complying with all applicable laws when using the Facebook View and for providing any notice or consent to video recording, audio recording, biometric data or other privacy, data protection or other applicable laws as required. People who use your Facebook View or interact with you when you use your Facebook View. You are also responsible for using Facebook Appearance in a safe, legal and respectful manner. You may not tamper with the Glasses or hide or modify any of the features on the Glasses that indicate to others that the Glasses are writing (including the external LED light).
Facebook View is intended for personal or household use only. You may use the Facebook View only for personal, non-commercial purposes in accordance with the Terms and any other terms we provide in connection with the Facebook View. Except to the extent such restriction is prohibited by applicable law, you will not disassemble, decompile, reverse engineer, decrypt, or otherwise attempt to derive any code or extract software from Facebook View. Except as expressly permitted by us, you use Facebook View or any software, content, or services available on or through Facebook View.
