Bystanders: what optical implants see of other people
With Oxenfurt University. A survey of what nine implant models record, process and keep about the people their wearers look at, and of the law on it in thirteen countries. The basis for a revision of KF-OS 2 that will open for comment in 2027.
An optical implant sees everyone its wearer looks at. This report asks what nine implant models currently on sale record, process and keep about those people, and what the law in thirteen countries says they may do.
We tested each model in standard scenes and read its makers’ published documentation and terms. We then reviewed privacy, data protection and surveillance law in the countries where the models are sold, with lawyers in each.
Key findings
- Seven of the nine models detect faces in every frame, whether or not the wearer has turned on any feature that needs them.
- Five keep some record of what they have detected for more than the two seconds KF-OS 2 allows, all under exclusions for diagnostic data.
- No country’s law treats the people an implant looks at as having any say in what it keeps about them, unless the images are published.
How to cite
Chiba Centre for Visual Science, with the Faculty of Philosophy, Oxenfurt University (2025). Bystanders: what optical implants see of other people. KF-R-2025-06. Tokyo: Kiroshi Foundation. kiroshi.org/research/publications/kf-r-2025-06/
For the full text, write to research@kiroshi.org.