[Expert Talks] Data Privacy Compliance & Virtual Try-On Technology

About Christophe Baste, Fittingbox's Chief of Legal & Human Resources, and Data Protection Officer

Christophe is part of Fittingbox team since 2015. His expertise gives him legitimacy when it comes to discussing Data Protection and Privacy, mostly since GDPR fines have ramped up significantly among internet big players for the past 3 years.

Why Data Protection is an important matter?

In the current context, it is only fair to be concerned about Data Privacy. Since eyewear Virtual Try-On requires access to the user’s camera, are personal data collected during a session? At Fittingbox, we take data concerns very seriously, that is why we have been keen to develop intelligent solution that detects a face using standard mathematical points, while guaranteeing users' anonymity.

About our solution: how does it detect users' face while guaranteeing their anonymity?

To answer this question plainly, we first have to glance at the difference between Personal Data et Biometric Information. 

On one hand, Personal Data are information that can identify an individual, such as a name, a surname a location data etc. On the other hand, Biometric Information can identify a person by their unique physiological or physical characteristics. It is the case of DNA, retinal scans, fingerprints, etc.

The good news is, Fittingbox neither collects nor processes any personal information when it comes to Virtual Try-On sessions.

How does our solution work?

Fittingbox’s Virtual Try-On only detects a face by using standard mathematical points that can be found on any face (ears, eyes, nose, and mouth). This allows to only detect a face in order to position a 3D frame model on it, without identifying the person.

Thanks to this innovative and fully private solution - that complies with the most protective Data Regulations, such as GDPR in Europe and BIPA in Illinois, USA - it is strictly impossible identify a specific user doing a Virtual Try-On experience through Fittingbox’s solutions.

Indeed, end-user's image is not even stored during the Virtual Try-On session since it is processed live, directly in the user’s own web browser.

To sum up, Fittingbox only collects usage statistic data - such as the amount of Virtual Try-On sessions per user, and the glasses references linked - which are anonymous by their very nature.