all-in-one privacy solution":["Proton Unlimited è una soluzione completa per la privacy"],"Black Friday":["Black Friday"],"No ads. Privacy by default.":["Niente pubblicità. La prima regola è la privacy."],"People before profits":["Le persone prima dei profitti"],"Security through transparency":["Più sicurezza grazie alla trasparenza"],"The best Proton Mail ${ BLACK_FRIDAY } deals":["Le migliori offerte di Proton Mail per il ${ BLACK_FRIDAY }"],"The world’s only community- supported email service":["L'unico servizio di email al mondo supportato dalla community"]},"specialoffer:limited":{"${ hours } hour":["${ hours } ora","${ hours } ore"],"${ hoursLeft }, ${ minutesLeft } and ${ secondsLeft } left":["Restano ${ hoursLeft }, ${ minutesLeft } e ${ secondsLeft }"],"${ minutes } minute":["${ minutes } minuto","${ minutes } minuti"],"${ seconds } second":["${ seconds } secondo","${ seconds } secondi"],"Limited time offer":["Offerta a tempo limitato"]},"specialoffer:listitem":{"Create multiple addresses":["Crea indirizzi multipli"],"Hide-my-email aliases":["Alias hide-my-email"],"Quickly unsubscribe from newsletters":["Annulla rapidamente l'iscrizione alle newsletter"],"Use your own domain name":["Utilizza il tuo nome di dominio"]},"specialoffer:logos":{"As featured in":["Ne hanno parlato"]},"specialoffer:metadescription":{"Get an encrypted email that protects your privacy":["Scegli un'email cifrata per proteggere la tua privacy"]},"specialoffer:metatitle":{"Proton Mail Black Friday Sale - Up to 40% off":["Offerta Black Friday di Proton Mail - sconti fino al 40%"]},"specialoffer:newmetadescription":{"Get up to 40% off Proton Mail subscriptions this Black Friday. Find great deals on our secure end-to-end encrypted email plans.":["Per questo Black Friday ti offriamo fino al 40% di sconto sugli abbonamenti a Proton Mail. Scopri le straordinarie offerte sui piani di abbonamento alla nostra email dotata di crittografia end-to-end."]},"specialoffer:newmetatitle":{"Proton Mail Black Friday sale | Up to 40% off secure email":["Offerta di Proton Mail per il Black Friday | Fino al 40% di sconto sulla nostra email sicura"]},"specialoffer:note":{"* Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first year":["* Addebito di ${ TOTAL_SUM } per il primo anno"],"*Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first 2 years":["*Addebito di ${ TOTAL_SUM } per i primi 2 anni"],"30-day money-back guarantee":["Garanzia soddisfatti o rimborsati di 30 giorni"],"Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first 2 years":["Addebito di ${ TOTAL_SUM } per i primi 2 anni"],"Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first year":["Addebito di ${ TOTAL_SUM } per il primo anno"],"You save ${ SAVE_SUM }":["Risparmi ${ SAVE_SUM }"]},"specialoffer:off":{"${ PERCENT_OFF } off":["−${ PERCENT_OFF }"]},"specialoffer:testimonial":{"I love my ProtonMail":["Adoro ProtonMail"],"My favorite email service":["Il mio servizio email preferito"],"Thanks Proton for keeping us all safe in the complicated internet universe.":["Grazie Proton perché ci proteggi nell'universo complicato di internet."],"You get what you pay for. In the case of big tech, if you pay nothing, you get used. I quit using Gmail and switched to @ProtonMail":["Ottieni quello per cui hai pagato. Nel caso di big tech, se non paghi niente, vieni usato. Ho smesso di usare Gmail e sono passata a @ProtonMail"]},"specialoffer:time":{"Days":["Giorni"],"Hours":["Ore"],"Min":["Min"]},"specialoffer:title":{"And much more":["E altro ancora"],"Safe from trackers":["Protezione dai tracker"],"Stay organized":["Tieni tutto in ordine"],"Black Friday email deals":["Offerte email del Black Friday"],"Don’t just take our word for it":["Non lo diciamo solo noi"],"Make your inbox yours":["Rendi la tua posta in arrivo davvero tua"],"Our story":["La nostra storia"],"Transfer your data from Google in one click":["Trasferisci i tuoi dati da Google con un solo clic"]},"specialoffer:tooltip":{"Access blocked content and browse privately. Includes ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES }+ countries, connect up to 10 devices, access worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Accedi a contenuti bloccati e naviga in modalità privata. Include oltre ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS } server in più di ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES } Paesi, possibilità di connettere fino a 10 dispositivi, accesso a servizi di streaming in tutto il mondo, anti-malware, ad-blocker e altro ancora."],"Easily share your calendar with your family, friends or colleagues, and view external calendars.":["Condividi facilmente il tuo calendario con familiari, amici o colleghi e visualizza calendari esterni."],"Includes support for 1 custom email domain, 10 email addresses, 10 hide-my-email aliases, calendar sharing, and more.":["Include il supporto per 1 dominio email personalizzato, 10 indirizzi email, 10 alias hide-my-email, condivisione del calendario e altro ancora."],"Includes support for 3 custom email domains, 15 email addresses, unlimited hide-my-email aliases, calendar sharing, and more.":["Include il supporto per 3 domini email personalizzati, 15 indirizzi email, alias hide-my-email illimitati, condivisione del calendario e altro ancora."],"Manage up to 25 calendars, mobile apps, secured with end-to-end encryption, 1-click calendar import from Google, and more.":["Gestisci fino a 25 calendari, app per dispositivi mobili, protezione con la crittografia end-to-end, importazione del calendario da Google in un solo clic e altro ancora."]},"Status Banner":{"At the moment we are experiencing issues with the Proton VPN service":["Al momento abbiamo dei problemi con il servizio di Proton VPN"]},"Status banner":{"Learn more":["Scopri di più"],"Please note that at the moment we are experiencing issues with the ${ issues[0] } service.":["Attenzione: stiamo riscontrando dei problemi con il servizio di ${ issues[0] }"],"We are experiencing issues with one or more services at the moment.":["Stiamo riscontrando dei problemi con uno o più servizi."]},"steps":{"Step":["Passaggio"]},"suggestions":{"Suggestions":["Suggerimenti"]},"Support":{"Sub category":["Sottocategoria","Sottocategorie"]},"Support article":{"${ readingTime } min":["${ readingTime } minuto","${ readingTime } minuti"],"Category":["Categoria","Categorie"],"Didn’t find what you were looking for?":["Non hai trovato quello che cercavi?"],"General contact":["Contatti generali"],"Get help":["Ottieni supporto"],"Legal contact":["Contatti legali"],"Media contact":["Contatti per la stampa"],"Partnerships contact":["Contatti per collaborazioni"],"Reading":["Lettura"]},"Support Form Platform option":{"VPN for Android TV":["VPN per Android TV"],"VPN for Apple TV":["VPN per Apple TV"],"VPN for Chromebook":["VPN per Chromebook"]},"Support troubleshooting":{"App version":["Versione dell'app"],"Browser":["Browser"],"Check if this helps":["Verifica se questo ti è utile"],"Choose a product":["Scegli un prodotto"],"Did this solve your issue?":["Ha risolto il tuo problema?"],"Faster assistance is just a few clicks away":["Ottieni assistenza più velocemente con pochi clic"],"How can we help?":["Come possiamo aiutarti?"],"No, contact support":["No, contatta il supporto"],"Please fill out one field after another":["Compila un campo dopo l'altro"],"Please make your selections":["Fai la tua selezione"],"Proton account":["Account Proton"],"Proton for Business":["Proton for Business"],"Thank you for your feedback":["Grazie per il feedback"],"What can we help with?":["In cosa possiamo esserti di aiuto?"],"Yes":["Sì"]},"support_modal_search_query":{"Search query":["Query di ricerca"]},"support_search_button":{"Search":["Cerca"]},"support_search_i_am_looking_for":{"I'm looking for":["Sto cercando"]},"SupportForm":{"For a faster resolution, please report the issue from the Bridge app: Help > Report a problem.":["Per una risoluzione più rapida, segnala il problema dall'app Bridge: Aiuto > Segnala un problema."],"Information":["Informazioni"]},"SupportForm:option":{"Account Security":["Sicurezza dell'account"],"Contacts":["Contatti"],"Custom email domain":["Dominio email personalizzato"],"Email delivery and Spam":["Consegna delle email e spam"],"Encryption":["Crittografia"],"Login and password":["Login e password"],"Merge aliases and accounts":["Unione di alias e account"],"Migrate to Proton":["Migrazione a Proton"],"Notifications":["Notifiche"],"Other":["Altro"],"Plans and billing":["Piani e fatturazione"],"Proton for Business":["Proton for Business"],"Sign up":["Iscrizione"],"Storage":["Archiviazione"],"Users, addresses, and identities":["Utenti, indirizzi e identità"]},"SupportForm:optionIntro":{"Select a topic":["Seleziona un argomento"]},"Testimonial":{"Awards":["Premi"],"Customers":["Clienti"],"Featured":["In evidenza"],"Go to testimonial source":["Vai alle testimonianze"],"Open source of award":["Apri la fonte del premio"],"Open source of quote":["Apri la fonte della citazione"],"Reviews":["Recensioni"],"Videos":["Video"],"Watch on TikTok":["Guarda su TikTok"],"Watch on YouTube":["Guarda su YouTube"]},"TestimonialCategory":{"Awards":["Premi"],"Customers":["Clienti"],"Featured":["In 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Includes ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES }+ countries, highest VPN speed, ${ TOTAL_VPN_CONNECTIONS } VPN connections, worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Accedi a contenuti bloccati e naviga in modalità privata. 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Meta’s smart glasses open door to new levels of facial surveillance | Proton
Two Harvard undergrads invented a way to instantly find your home address, phone number, and even your relatives — simply by looking at you.
They built this facial surveillance machine, which they call I-XRAY(nuova finestra), using nothing more than off-the-shelf Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and publicly available LLMs, databases, and facial search engines.
The students, AnhPhu Nguyen and Caine Ardayfio, didn’t release the code because their purpose for this project is to highlight how today’s internet, awash with data, has put us on the edge of a world where complete strangers can find your identity and personal information in an instant according to 404 Media(nuova finestra), the outlet that initially reported the story.
Their DIY surveillance kit demonstrates how quickly the battlelines can shift in the fight for privacy. But it’s not too late to protect yourself from facial surveillance. Below, we examine what these smart glasses can do, how they work, and what you can do to prevent people from violating your privacy.
Doxxing people in real time
Nguyen shared a video on X showing just how quickly and easily you can find sensitive, personal information using their modified glasses. Just a few seconds after seeing someone, they know where they’ve worked, what they’ve published, and where they went to school.
Their system uses the Meta smart glasses’ ability to live stream to Instagram. They created a program that monitors the feed and uses AI to detect faces. Those faces are then fed into PimEyes, a face search and reverse image search engine, to find the person’s name and other images of them. Once the name is found, I-XRAY uses AI to feed the name into dozens of publicly available data sources, like voter registration databases, to find other sensitive information. This is all compiled and displayed in an app on their phone.
The most concerning part of I-XRAY is that it was created simply by patching together hardware, software, and databases that are already available to anyone.
And while Nguyen and Ardayfio could have used any camera that can live stream to Instagram (a smartphone, for example), Meta’s smart glasses make it easy to record people without their knowledge. Technically, a “privacy light” turns on when you’re using video to inform people that they’re being recorded, but it’s easy to overlook. If you walk through a crowd and use your smart glasses to record their faces, most people will simply assume you’re wearing a normal pair of sunglasses.
In Nguyen’s video, you can watch them walk up to strangers and convincingly reference their work. These people had no idea they were being recorded or doxxed, showing how easy it would be to use these glasses for social engineering.
The slippery slope toward facial surveillance
While I-XRAY is the most impressive demonstration of how smart devices can be used to track and dox people, the risks have been well-known for years. Both Google and Facebook (now Meta) decided against including facial recognition features(nuova finestra) in their products due to privacy concerns in 2017, writes Kashmir Hill in her book on PimEyes and Clearview AI, Your Face Belongs to Us. But organizations like Clearview AI(nuova finestra) and PimEyes pushed forward with facial recognition, scraping billions of images from the internet without anyone’s permission.
PimEyes is arguably the key to I-XRAY. It’s a publicly available facial recognition service that’s been used to identify January 6 rioters(nuova finestra) and dox people on TikTok(nuova finestra). All you need to do is upload an image of someone, and PimEyes will provide a list of images of matching faces along with the URLs of where those images came from. In Nugyen’s video, you can see the shock on people’s faces when they find their kindergarten photos on the I-XRAY app.
Using I-XRAY, if someone can get a decent photo of your face (in other words, if you step into a public area), it’s relatively easy for them to find all sorts of sensitive information on you.
Despite their worries about facial recognition seven years ago, Meta officials didn’t seem eager to prevent users from creating spyware from scratch. When 404 Media asked Meta for a comment on I-XRAY, its spokesperson simply referred them to the terms of service for Facebook View(nuova finestra) (the app that comes with the smart glasses), which states, “You are also responsible for using Facebook View in a safe, lawful, and respectful manner” — tantamount to a shoulder shrug.
You must protect your privacy – no one else will
As we’ve repeatedly seen, people are left to fend for themselves when it comes to protecting their privacy. Fortunately, Nguyen and Ardayfio list some steps you can take to protect yourself from this type of facial surveillance. This mostly involves going to multiple databases, data brokers, and face search engines and requesting that they remove your data.
Remove your information from face search engines
This most important place to start if you want to prevent doxxing attacks using smart glasses is removing yourself from face search engines. If you can remove yourself from PimEyes(nuova finestra) and Facecheck ID(nuova finestra), you’ll make it much harder for attackers to get your name if they only have a photo of you.
Remove your information from public people search engines
If someone has your name, they can use these search engines to find all kinds of sensitive information, including your home addresses (past and present), phone numbers (past and present), job history, and more. Some of the largest people search engines include:
Push politicians for meaningful data privacy controls
While this process can make a big difference when it comes to your online privacy, it’s not a sustainable or comprehensive solution. That would require lawmakers to pass legislation that strengthens people’s data privacy protections.
The internet is awash in data, from Big Tech to data brokers. In this age of internet-connected devices, it’s somewhat shocking it took this long for someone to create I-XRAY. Nguyen and Ardayfio have shown that now people can create tools that tap into the surveillance network that governments and Big Tech have used for years.
Removing your data from data brokers is an important step, but preventing as much of your data as possible from ever being collected is an even better one. While it’s difficult to prevent data brokers from getting much of your data (they often compile publicly available information or buy it from service providers, like phone companies), every bit of data you can keep private makes a difference.
Once data reaches the internet, it’s hard to control where it ends up or who can access it. As we’ve seen, China has hacked dozens of databases. The US government has outsourced much of its mass surveillance to Big Tech and will buy data from data brokers to avoid needing to get warrants (this is one reason lawmakers might be hesitant to pass privacy reforms).
This is why we began Proton. The best way to prevent these abuses, from I-XRAY all the way up to the US government’s warrantless surveillance program, is to simply minimize data collection at every step. It’s why we built an entire suite of services that encrypt your data so you’re in control of who can access it.
Proton Calendar keeps your schedule private with end-to-end encryption and customizable event management features.
Proton Drive provides secure cloud storage with end-to-end encryption, allowing for encrypted file sharing to protect sensitive documents, including identity papers and personal photos, from data breaches and surveillance.
Proton Mail offers encrypted email services with zero-access encryption, protection against tracking, and phishing prevention, ensuring private communication.
Proton Pass, our password manager, creates strong passwords, supports two-factor authentication, and offers email aliasing to enhance security against cyber threats.
Proton VPN(nuova finestra) encrypts your internet traffic, follows a strict no-logs policy, and blocks ads, trackers, and malware, ensuring safe and private browsing.
We’re building a better internet where privacy is the default. Join us as we empty the databases of personal information that fuel today’s surveillance tools.
Thousands of businesses of all sizes were impacted by cybercrime in 2024. Here
are the top cybersecurity threats we expect companies to face in 2025—and how
Proton Pass can protect your business.