Why Do You Know That About Me?— Ethical Implications of Pervasive AR And Face Recognition

Paper Title

Why Do You Know That About Me?— Ethical Implications of Pervasive AR And Face Recognition

Publication Info

• Topic area: Ethical and social implications of integrating face recognition technology (FRT) with pervasive augmented reality (AR).
• Keywords: Pervasive AR, face recognition, ethical implications, social asymmetry, privacy, self-presentation, consent, subscription models, Kantian principles, technology ethics.

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: The integration of face recognition technology (FRT) with pervasive augmented reality (AR) raises significant ethical, social, and behavioral concerns, particularly regarding privacy, consent, and social asymmetry. Existing studies have not sufficiently explored these implications in real-world settings.
• Significance: As AR glasses with FRT capabilities become more prevalent, understanding their social and ethical ramifications is critical to ensuring responsible design and public acceptance. These technologies could disrupt social norms, exacerbate inequalities, and infringe on privacy.
• Motivation and related work: Prior research has examined FRT in controlled environments and its applications in security, assistive technologies, and social contexts. However, the ethical and social implications of pervasive FRT in public, real-world settings remain underexplored. This study builds on earlier work by investigating these issues in an ecologically valid environment.

Solution

• Proposed approach: A study using a functional technology probe of pervasive AR glasses with FRT to simulate real-world interactions in a public café setting. The study examines ethical and social implications through role-based access to information and the use of scraped versus curated data.
• Novelty:
  1. Deployment of a functional FRT-enabled AR system in a real-world public setting.
  2. Exploration of role-based information asymmetries and their social consequences.
  3. Investigation of the ethical implications of using scraped information for self-presentation.
  4. Proposal of a Kantian framework emphasizing symmetry and consent for future AR systems.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  • Participants were assigned roles (paid users, free users, non-users) with varying levels of access to information.
  • Two experimental conditions were tested: a "Kantian" baseline with symmetric information exchange and an "In-the-Wild" condition with asymmetric, role-based access.
  • Data was collected through interviews, questionnaires, and thematic analysis, with FRT trained on participant data and information scraped using PimEyes.

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • Role-based access created significant social asymmetries, with paid users having more privileges and control over self-presentation.
  • Scraped information often led to inaccurate or outdated self-presentations, affecting first impressions and social interactions.
  • Participants expressed concerns about privacy, consent, and the potential misuse of curated self-presentation for manipulation or dishonesty.
  • The unprompted and inconspicuous nature of pervasive FRT was perceived as intrusive and a violation of privacy.
• Advantage over baselines: The "Kantian" condition, which ensured symmetric information exchange, was preferred by participants as it aligned with principles of fairness and mutual consent.
• Experiments / evaluation:
  • Conducted with 54 participants (32F, 21M, 1D) in a public café setting.
  • Participants experienced both symmetric and asymmetric information exchange scenarios.
  • Data collection included interviews, questionnaires, and thematic analysis, focusing on ethical and social implications.
• Limitations and future work:
  • Uneven participant distribution across roles and limited diversity in professional backgrounds.
  • Simulated rather than real-time scraping of information.
  • Future work should explore operationalizing symmetry and consent mechanisms, as well as testing in diverse cultural and contextual settings.

Summary

This study investigates the ethical and social implications of pervasive AR glasses with FRT in real-world settings. Key findings highlight issues of social asymmetry, privacy, and self-presentation, with participants expressing concerns about the unprompted and intrusive nature of the technology. The authors propose a Kantian framework emphasizing symmetry and consent to address these challenges and ensure responsible design. Future research should focus on practical implementations of these principles and explore diverse contexts to better understand the societal impact of pervasive FRT.