The I-XRAY demo works by live-streaming video captured by the smart glasses to a computer program, where AI identifies faces in the footage
Two Harvard students have highlighted the growing risks of privacy invasion through a project that demonstrates how Meta’s smart glasses, combined with facial recognition technology, can be transformed into a powerful surveillance tool. The project, named I-XRAY, reveals how easily personal information can be obtained using everyday technology, raising serious concerns about privacy and doxing, but also suggesting preventive measures.
Harvard students AnhPhu Nguyen and Caine Ardayfio developed I-XRAY by integrating Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses with artificial intelligence (AI) and public databases. The system allows users to identify individuals in real-time and retrieve personal details such as names, phone numbers, and addresses. This information is pulled from public sources and displayed on a connected smartphone app.
The I-XRAY demo works by live-streaming video captured by the smart glasses to a computer program, where AI identifies faces in the footage. The system then searches publicly available databases to match the faces with corresponding personal information. The students showcased how they could identify classmates, their addresses, and even relatives through this method. More disturbingly, they approached strangers in public, pretending to know them based on the information they had gathered.
The demonstration underscores the potential misuse of such technology, particularly the practice of doxing, where personal details are maliciously shared or exploited. The project has raised alarm about the ease with which personal information can be accessed and how innovation could be used to erode privacy in everyday life.
Nguyen and Ardayfio, however, stressed that their project was created to raise awareness about the risks inherent in current technology. What began as a simple side project soon turned into a significant privacy concern, and the students aimed to show how vulnerable people can be to such invasions. Their goal was to demonstrate the need for stronger privacy protections, not to create a harmful tool.
To help mitigate these risks, the students offered solutions for managing online privacy. One recommendation is for individuals to remove their images from reverse face search engines like Pimeyes and Facecheck.id, which allow users to upload photos and find matching faces across the internet. Both platforms offer opt-out options to protect privacy, though Facecheck.id may require government ID verification for removal.
The I-XRAY project serves as a reminder of the fine line between technological innovation and privacy invasion, urging for more robust safeguards to protect individuals in an increasingly interconnected digital world.
