A Data-Driven Review of a Decade of Privacy Research in Eye Tracking

What is it about?

Eye tracking is now used in VR/XR headsets, phones, cars, research, and health technologies. These systems can record where people look, how their eyes move, and images of the eye, but they can also reveal much more than a person’s gaze. Eye tracking data can expose identity, behaviour, interests, personal traits, cognitive states, and information about the surrounding environment. This review looks at ten years of research on the privacy risks of this data and maps the main ways researchers have tried to protect it. Our findings reveal that many protections reduce risk in specific situations, but do not fully stop sensitive information from being inferred from eye tracking data.

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Photo by 3D Render on Unsplash

Photo by 3D Render on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Eye tracking is becoming part of everyday technology, but its privacy risks are still not widely understood. Eye data can reveal sensitive information about who people are, what they do, and how they think. This review is important because it shows that current protections are still incomplete, even after a decade of research. By mapping what has been studied and where risks remain, the article helps guide stronger safeguards, clearer rules, and more responsible use of eye tracking technologies.