Harvard Students Connect Meta Ray-Bans to PimEyes Face Search, Provoking Privacy Concerns

Harvard students AnhPhu Nguyen and Caine Ardayfio have revealed how combining Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses with facial recognition software can expose personal details of strangers in public spaces. Their project, known as I-XRAY, connects the smart glasses to PimEyes, a controversial facial image search engine, and employs a large language model to rapidly compile data such as names, addresses, and phone numbers.

By discreetly capturing images of individuals, the system cross-references facial data with online databases, assembling comprehensive personal profiles in mere seconds.

“Using our glasses, we were able to identify dozens of people including Harvard students, without them ever knowing,” said Ardayfio.

The students demonstrated how this technology could be exploited to deceive people, gain their trust, or potentially facilitate harmful actions like stalking.

The purpose of their project is to highlight the privacy risks posed by the integration of wearable technology and advanced biometric identification tools. They have intentionally withheld the code to prevent misuse but have detailed how easily such a system can be built using publicly available technology.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), project co-creator AnhPhu Nguyen said, “Please note that our goal is NOT to release any product or code, this is meant to be a demonstration to raise awareness of what’s possible today with consumer tech.”

The pair advise the public to opt out of invasive search engines like PimEyes and other people search websites to protect personal privacy, while the demonstration has sparked conversations about the ethical implications of facial recognition technology and the urgent need for regulatory measures to safeguard individual data.

Sources: Forbes, Techcrunch, arsTECHNICA

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October 3, 2024 – by Ali Nassar-Smith