Eye Tracking and the Erosion of Anonymity in Extended Reality Systems

Eye Tracking and the Erosion of Anonymity in Extended Reality Systems | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Eye Tracking and the Erosion of Anonymity in Extended Reality Systems Antonios Patergianakis This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6898219/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The rapid growth of extended reality (XR), encompassing technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), introduces unprecedented challenges in safeguarding personal user privacy. This study explores the extent to which XR eye-tracking biometric technologies can compromise user anonymity and reveal private identities. Leveraging the GazeBaseVR dataset \cite{lohr2023}, which comprises extensive gaze data from hundreds of users, we trained a Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) model to identify individuals based on their unique eye movement patterns. Our model achieved a high identification accuracy of 96.61% on identifying users while watching a video in a VR environment, underscoring the severe privacy risks posed by XR technologies in their collection and processing of biometric data. Beyond presenting these findings, this research highlights the broader implications of XR eye-tracking on user privacy and advocates robust solutions to address these concerns. We urge technologists, policymakers, and privacy advocates to collaborate in establishing comprehensive regulations and privacy-preserving mechanisms to mitigate the potential misuse of XR biometric data. This work aims to inspire further interdisciplinary research to ensure that technological innovation does not come at the expense of fundamental privacy rights. Privacy Eye-Tracking Extended Reality AI User Identification Biometric Data Protection Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6898219","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":498278202,"identity":"22a44a66-0273-4642-be52-885d163f87f6","order_by":0,"name":"Antonios Patergianakis","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAApklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYLCCDwwMPAzMJGhgbJxBspZmHpLcxD+7+flj27Y7MubsDMyvK4jRInHnmGFzbtszHstmBjbLM0RZcyMBpOUwj8FhBjbDBmJ0yN9I/9hsSZIWgxs5hs2MEC3MD4nSYnjnTOHMnnOHgX5hbGMkSovc7fYNH36UHbY35z98+CNRWhgkYC5kYGyTwKsSixYG5g/EaRkFo2AUjIKRBgDyeDIfeB9k6wAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"University of Piraeus","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Antonios","middleName":"","lastName":"Patergianakis","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-06-15 12:23:05","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6898219/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6898219/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":90862257,"identity":"f37021cf-c368-4525-a1ec-14d7db51dc63","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-09 06:23:40","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":321925,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Submission.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6898219/v1_covered_a5e07c44-d7ed-4cab-b30e-311572f88e22.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Eye Tracking and the Erosion of Anonymity in Extended Reality Systems","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Privacy, Eye-Tracking, Extended Reality, AI, User Identification, Biometric Data Protection","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6898219/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6898219/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The rapid growth of extended reality (XR), encompassing technologies\nsuch as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), introduces\nunprecedented challenges in safeguarding personal user privacy. This\nstudy explores the extent to which XR eye-tracking biometric\ntechnologies can compromise user anonymity and reveal private\nidentities. Leveraging the GazeBaseVR dataset \\cite{lohr2023}, which comprises extensive\ngaze data from hundreds of users, we trained a Multi-Layer Perceptron\n(MLP) model to identify individuals based on their unique eye movement\npatterns. Our model achieved a high identification accuracy of 96.61\\%\non identifying users while watching a video in a VR environment,\nunderscoring the severe privacy risks posed by XR technologies in their\ncollection and processing of biometric data. Beyond presenting these\nfindings, this research highlights the broader implications of XR\neye-tracking on user privacy and advocates robust solutions to address\nthese concerns. We urge technologists, policymakers, and privacy\nadvocates to collaborate in establishing comprehensive regulations and\nprivacy-preserving mechanisms to mitigate the potential misuse of XR\nbiometric data. This work aims to inspire further interdisciplinary\nresearch to ensure that technological innovation does not come at the\nexpense of fundamental privacy rights.","manuscriptTitle":"Eye Tracking and the Erosion of Anonymity in Extended Reality Systems","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-08-11 08:17:12","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6898219/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"ad213cf0-0d7a-45d8-bded-239ad967ad34","owner":[],"postedDate":"August 11th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-09-09T06:23:18+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-08-11 08:17:12","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6898219","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6898219","identity":"rs-6898219","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}