The Need for Inherently Privacy-Preserving Vision in Trustworthy Autonomous Systems

TL;DR

This paper advocates for privacy-preserving robotic vision systems that do not capture or reconstruct images, proposing principles and a case study demonstrating a localization method that respects privacy.

Contribution

It introduces a novel privacy-preserving vision framework for robotics, emphasizing no image capture or reconstruction, with a case study showcasing its practical implementation.

Findings

Simulation demonstrates effective localization without image reconstruction.

Proposed principles guide privacy-preserving robotic vision system design.

First step towards inherently privacy-preserving robotic sight.

Abstract

Vision is a popular and effective sensor for robotics from which we can derive rich information about the environment: the geometry and semantics of the scene, as well as the age, gender, identity, activity and even emotional state of humans within that scene. This raises important questions about the reach, lifespan, and potential misuse of this information. This paper is a call to action to consider privacy in the context of robotic vision. We propose a specific form privacy preservation in which no images are captured or could be reconstructed by an attacker even with full remote access. We present a set of principles by which such systems can be designed, and through a case study in localisation demonstrate in simulation a specific implementation that delivers an important robotic capability in an inherently privacy-preserving manner. This is a first step, and we hope to inspire future works that expand the range of applications open to sighted robotic systems.