Data protection in the AI ​​age: A wake-up call!

„You can build this in a few days – even as a very naïve developer“ is the quote of two Harvard students who developed a tool within a few days that uses smart glasses and facial recognition to identify people in real time.

As a result, detailed profiles of passers-by were created within seconds using publicly available data and presented in a structured manner in a specially developed app.

In addition to name, address, place of residence, employer and level of education, the tool could also provide information about relatives within seconds.

How it all worked:

1️⃣ The students used the Ray-Ban Meta glasses (360,- € 💰) and streamed live on Instagram unnoticed while taking a walk through the subway or across campus.

2️⃣ The faces in the live stream are analyzed by facial recognition software and compared with publicly available images on various URLs to identify the person.

3️⃣ The application also carried out further checks to find more details such as the address or, in some cases, even the social security number.

4️⃣ The collected information is presented to the students on an app in a structured and clear manner in real time.

The use of such a tool gives rise to numerous opportunities for data protection violations.

It is therefore all the more gratifying that the intention of the two students was to draw attention to the risks to data protection posed by AI.

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