Meta Smart Glasses Raise Alarming Privacy Concerns With AI-Driven Doxing

New concerns about privacy have emerged as two Harvard students demonstrated how Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, combined with AI technology, can be used to gather sensitive information about people just by looking at them. Students AnhPhu Nguyen and Caine Ardayfio have created a modified version of the glasses, calling it I-XRAY, which uses facial recognition technology to identify individuals in real-time, collecting their personal data without consent.

The system works by linking the glasses to an artificial intelligence large language model (LLM), which enables it to search the internet for photos and other relevant information about anyone the user looks at. In seconds, the I-XRAY device can reveal details such as a person’s home address, phone number, and even parts of their social security number. The creators tout the system’s advanced ability to compile data and identify individuals quickly, making use of modern AI advances to gather information from various sources online.

This has raised serious concerns about privacy. With just a glance, someone’s sensitive data can be exposed, potentially leading to identity theft, harassment or other forms of abuse. Nguyen and Ardayfio claim that their creation highlights how easy it is to extract personal details using modern AI tools and the need for better privacy protections.

As AI technology becomes more integrated with daily gadgets like smart glasses, many are questioning whether existing regulations are sufficient to protect people from misuse. The potential for this technology to be abused is significant, and it puts individuals’ personal information at risk in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago.

Nguyen and Ardayfio suggest that people take steps to protect themselves by opting out of databases that store personal information and using tools to remove themselves from reverse face search engines. Still, the development of this technology raises broader concerns about how privacy can be maintained in an increasingly connected world.