Skip to main content ●About ●Contact ●Press ●People ●Opportunities ●EFF's 35th Anniversary ●Issues ●Free Speech ●Privacy ●Creativity and Innovation ●Transparency ●International ●Security ●Our Work ●Deeplinks Blog ●Press Releases ●Events ●Legal Cases ●Whitepapers ●Podcast ●Annual Reports ●Take Action ●Action Center ●Electronic Frontier Alliance ●Volunteer ●Tools ●Privacy Badger ●Surveillance Self-Defense ●Certbot ●Atlas of Surveillance ●Cover Your Tracks ●Street Level Surveillance ●apkeep ●Donate ●Donate to EFF ●Giving Societies ●Shop ●Sponsorships ●Other Ways to Give ●Membership FAQ ●Donate ●Donate to EFF ●Shop ●Other Ways to Give

Email updates on news, actions, and events in your area. Join EFF Lists ●Copyright (CC BY) ●Trademark ●Privacy Policy ●Thanks Electronic Frontier Foundation Donate Electronic Frontier Foundation ●About ●Contact ●Press ●People ●Opportunities ●EFF's 35th Anniversary ●Issues ●Free Speech ●Privacy ●Creativity and Innovation ●Transparency ●International ●Security ●Our Work ●Deeplinks Blog ●Press Releases ●Events ●Legal Cases ●Whitepapers ●Podcast ●Annual Reports ●Take Action ●Action Center ●Electronic Frontier Alliance ●Volunteer ●Tools ●Privacy Badger ●Surveillance Self-Defense ●Certbot ●Atlas of Surveillance ●Cover Your Tracks ●Street Level Surveillance ●apkeep ●Donate ●Donate to EFF ●Giving Societies ●Shop ●Sponsorships ●Other Ways to Give ●Membership FAQ ●Donate ●Donate to EFF ●Shop ●Other Ways to Give

Extended Reality (XR)

Person wearing a VR headset on which text reads "Come back with a Warrant".

Extended Reality (XR)

Extended reality technologies (XR), which include Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), are rapidly maturing and becoming more prevalent to a wider audience, especially as the pandemic drives more people to virtual activities. This technology provides the promise to entertain and educate, to connect and enhance our lives, and even to help advocate for our rights. But it also raises the risk of eroding them online. The headsets and devices can gather deeply personal information about you and the world around you, and the XR services often store this data within their servers. And by introducing artificial intelligence to XR, the privacy and security hazards are augmented, too, as the devices and services gather and analyze data at an unprecedented level.
XR devices, which include cameras, microphones, and sensors, help us interact with the real world (and ensure you do not crash into your table). That means information about your environment, such as your home, office, or even your community, can also be collected and shared to target advertisements to you. And once collected, all this information is potentially available to the government. Even if you never use this equipment, sharing a space with someone who uses it may even put your privacy at risk.
XR devices in your home can also collect all-encompassing audio and video, along with telemetry about your movements, depth data, and images. This data can be used to build a highly accurate geometrical representation of your home. The government must not get warrantless access to this sensitive information, even when a third-party provider holds that information.
As the use of augmented reality has grown, so have the promises and dangers it poses. Glasses that augment reality may also mean a wearer could be recording your conversations while mapping the environment around you in precise detail and real-time. If these technologies are massively adopted, AR recording's scope and scale could give rise to a global panopticon of constant surveillance in public or semi-public spaces.
Augmented reality may pose unprecedented dangers of a dystopian future. But with strong policies, robust transparency, wise courts, modernized statutes, and privacy-by-design engineering, we can hold back that dystopia and reap the rewards of this technology.

Protect digital privacy and free expression. EFF's public interest legal work, activism, and software development preserve fundamental rights. Protect digital privacy and free expression. EFF's public interest legal work, activism, and software development preserve fundamental rights. DONATE TO EFF

EFF Related Content: Extended Reality (XR)

The banner for the 2022 Year in Review blog series

Deeplinks Blog byKatitza Rodriguez, Rory Mir | December 24, 2022

Pivotal Year for the Metaverse and Extended Reality: 2022 in Review

Neal Stephenson’s classic 1992 dystopian novel Snow Crash inspired today’s tech industry in many ways. Google Earth is said to have been inspired by the novel’s “Earth” software, which lets people interactively visualize the whole world. Snow Crash is also the origin of an immersive virtual world Stephenson... ●Read more about Pivotal Year for the Metaverse and Extended Reality: 2022 in Review

Document | April 3, 2022

EFF Submission to the OHCHR Consultation on the Practical Application of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to the Activities of Technology Companies

The Electronic Frontier Foundation submission to the consultation on the Practical Application of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) to the Activities of Technology Companies. The first part of our submission focuses on the utility of the UNGP as a... ●Read more about EFF Submission to the OHCHR Consultation on the Practical Application of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to the Activities of Technology Companies

Deeplinks Blog byCooper Quintin, Beryl Lipton | September 9, 2021

The Catalog of Carceral Surveillance: Prison Gaming and AR/VR Services

This post has been updated to provide additional context about patents and patent applications, which are indications of an entity’s interest in a particular product but not proof that the product is currently in development or available for use. You can read more about the role of patents in this... ●Read more about The Catalog of Carceral Surveillance: Prison Gaming and AR/VR Services

VR glasses that say Come Back with a Warrant

Deeplinks Blog byKurt Opsahl, Katitza Rodriguez | June 2, 2021

Your Avatar is You, However You See Yourself, and You Should Control Your Experience and Your Data

●Español Virtual worlds are increasingly providing sophisticated, realistic, and often immersive experiences that are the stuff of fantasy. You can enter them by generating an avatar - a representation of the user that could take the form of an animal, a superhero, a historic figure, each some version of yourself or... ●Read more about Your Avatar is You, However You See Yourself, and You Should Control Your Experience and Your Data

Deeplinks Blog byKatitza Rodriguez, Kurt Opsahl | January 2, 2021

Defending Your Rights in Every Reality: Year in Review 2020

Virtual reality and augmented reality technologies (VR/AR) are rapidly maturing and becoming more prevalent to a wider audience, especially as the pandemic drives more people to virtual activities. This technology provides the promise to entertain and educate, to connect and enhance our lives, and even to help advocate for... ●Read more about Defending Your Rights in Every Reality: Year in Review 2020

Pages

●1 ●2 ●next ﹀ ●last » Back to top

Follow EFF:

●mastodon ●facebook ●instagram ●x ●Blue Sky ●youtube ●flicker ●linkedin ●tiktok ●threads Check out our 4-star rating on Charity Navigator.

Contact

●General ●Legal ●Security ●Membership ●Press

About

●Calendar ●Volunteer ●Victories ●History ●Internships ●Jobs ●Staff ●Diversity & Inclusion

Issues

●Free Speech ●Privacy ●Creativity & Innovation ●Transparency ●International ●Security

Updates

●Blog ●Press Releases ●Events ●Legal Cases ●Whitepapers ●EFFector Newsletter

Press

●Press Contact

Donate

●Join or Renew Membership Online ●One-Time Donation Online ●Giving Societies ●Corporate Giving and Sponsorship ●Shop ●Other Ways to Give ●Copyright (CC BY) ●Trademark ●Privacy Policy ●Thanks