Eigengrau uses your webcam to detect when your eyes are closed. The eye-tracking model runs entirely inside your browser: no video, images or facial data ever leave your device. Only a rough outline of your eyes and your assigned tone are shared in real time with other people currently viewing the piece. Nothing is ever recorded or stored.
This artwork is made and operated by Craig Fahner, who is the data controller. Questions or requests about your data can be sent to [email protected].
Your webcam feed is processed locally in your browser by a client-side eye-tracking model to find your face and eyes. The video never leaves your device. Several times a second, your browser sends the server a small message containing: the coordinates of the outlines of your two eyes, whether your eyes are closed, a value derived from the tilt of your head, your window width, your assigned colour and musical note, and a random connection ID. This is used only to draw your eyes and play your tone on the screens of other participants. It cannot be used to identify you.
As with any website, the server also necessarily receives your IP address in order to communicate with your browser. A single cookie is set when you click "Enter" below to remember that you agreed; it is deleted when you close your browser.
We process this data on the basis of your consent (GDPR Article 6(1)(a)), which you give by clicking "Enter" below. You can withdraw consent at any time by closing the page, or via the "withdraw consent" link in the artwork's information panel.
The eye outlines and tone data are relayed to up to eight other people viewing the artwork at the same time as you. The site is hosted on Heroku, which processes connection data such as IP addresses on our behalf and may do so outside the EU. All code, models and fonts are served directly from this site, so no other third-party services are contacted. Your data is not sold or shared with anyone else.
Never stored. Eye data is relayed in real time and immediately discarded; nothing is written to a database or log. When you leave the page your connection and its data cease to exist.
Under the GDPR you have the right to access, correct, erase or restrict processing of your personal data, to object to processing, to data portability, and to withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal. Because no data is stored, there is usually nothing for us to retrieve or delete after you leave. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.