July 26, 2024

‍Be My Eyes announced today, on the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), an initiative that will provide video data to organizations to train their AI models in a more inclusive way. 

Be My Eyes also announced a significant strengthening of its data and privacy policy, explicitly excluding the use of Be My AI photos and their generated descriptions from being shared for AI training purposes, and introducing a new opt-out program before any video data is shared.

Recognized as an innovator and a leader in AI technology for blind and low-vision people, Be My Eyes is taking these steps to ensure blind and low-vision communities are not left out of the innovative power of AI, and that future AI models do not develop with an inherent bias against them.

Much like the early internet and the rush to develop websites - which to this day still sees more than 90% of them with inaccessible elements - there is a societal-level risk that AI development will similarly neglect accessibility. However, this time the impact could be even more significant given the high utility and power of these technologies to blind and low-vision people. The potential for AI-generated bias and exclusion is completely contrary to the principles of the ADA and the Be My Eyes mission. 

The answer lies in data, and by providing relevant AI-training content as a proactive step, Be My Eyes aims to ensure that future AI technologies are developed without such biases, and that they accurately reflect the lived experiences of people with disabilities. 

“We believe there is a moral imperative to ensure AI models not only account for blindness and blind people, but do so in a way that is consistent with our actual experiences, capabilities, and power,” said Hans Jorgen Wiberg, founder of Be My Eyes. “Our premise is simple: Our mission is to make the world more accessible for people who are blind or have low vision and that must include shaping the future of AI.”

This need is something that Be My Eyes has noted from many of its more than 650,000 blind users who say that they would like their experiences to play an active role in shaping the future of AI technology. 

‍“Last year, 19,000 blind beta testers participated in a group that made OpenAI models materially better for the blind community,” noted Bryan Bashin, Vice Chair of Be My Eyes. “Their feedback and data convinced OpenAI to allow more robust and fuller facial descriptions of people to be generated from photos. Think about that. Blind people directly shaped one of the most utilized AI models in the world - and bent it to their needs. We need more of this at scale and we need it quickly.” 

Mike Buckley, CEO of Be My Eyes said, “As AI models continue to speed up the acquisition and importing of data, we see this as an urgent and immediate imperative, and will therefore continue to work with the blind and low-vision community on inclusive solutions for a more accessible world, alongside and in partnership with our users.”

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Strengthening the Be My Eyes Privacy Policy

As the world’s leading provider of accessibility services for people who are blind or have low vision, Be My Eyes is in the unique position of having significant data on the real and lived experiences of that community. This data falls into three distinct categories:

1. User Account Data. This is basic and limited data about our users including their name, email address, preferred languages, and approximate location

2. Photos and associated AI descriptions. These are the photos and images that our users share with Be My AI, and the corresponding AI-generated descriptions of those images 

3. Video data from calls with volunteers. These videos are stored primarily for quality, safety, and to improve our services. These are the calls where Be My Eyes automatically connects a user with an unknown volunteer to assist with accessibility needs. For example, the two most frequent types of calls to volunteers are for product distinction and to read instructions and describe images. 

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Our current terms and policies state that while we don’t normally share information with any third party, photos and video data can be shared for the purposes of product improvement, research, and AI training. Today’s announcement tightens that policy in 3 specific ways:

‍Policy change #1 - No Photo Sharing. Be My Eyes will not share photos or their AI descriptions to third parties for training. The only exception will be for alpha and beta tests of AI models, but these will involve users in these tests signing separate and specific permission agreements. We believe this data is not likely to be useful for AI training, and in fact, might reinforce bias that exists in results. 

‍Policy change #2 - Video Opt Out. Be My Eyes will allow any user to opt-out of sharing videos, and that opt out will apply to the user’s past, present and future videos. An opt-out will not affect a user’s ability to access the full Be My Eyes service. 

‍Policy change #3 - Auto Data Deletion. Be My Eyes has historically saved encrypted image data for quality control, service improvement, and to comply with law enforcement requests. By January of 2025, we will update our policies to include a time frame for auto deletion of all image data.  

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These policy changes are being further reinforced with our publicly stated Principles for Data Sharing that be My Eyes is committed to adhering to:

1. Transparency and Disclosure: Be My Eyes will act with transparency and disclosure around data usage and provision, and will ensure our user community is always notified of any significant changes to our policies. We will also disclose the names of the companies or organizations with whom we partner on data use for AI training. [for the full policy Click Here]. 

2. Full Consumer Choice and Opt-Out Program: Be My Eyes will provide a full opt-out choice from sharing all past, present, and future video data for anyone in the Be My Eyes’ user community. Regardless of what users choose, they can continue to get the benefit of Be My AI descriptions whether or not they opt out of video data sharing. [all Be My Eyes users will be receiving an email in the coming days with information, and a dedicated link to opt-out if they so wish]

3. Strict Limitations on Data Use: Any data partnership will include written agreements prohibiting marketing and advertising use (no data mining allowed), no sharing with unaffiliated third parties, and ensuring safe storage and deletion of data post-training. Be My Eyes will also delete personal information from video metadata prior to any sharing. No data from Be My Eyes enterprise products (such as Service Connect, also known as Specialized Help and Be My Eyes for Work) or Be My Eyes Groups, our friends and family product, will be used in training.

4. Blind Leadership: The blind members of Be My Eyes' Board of Directors have ultimate authority over AI training and data decisions, and had full involvement and veto power over this policy and every one of these four principles.

“Be My Eyes’ principles demonstrate leadership and a true commitment to shaping AI by centering on the blind experience,” said Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind. “There is no model that can substitute for the truth of our lived experience, and it is critical that other companies follow this example of taking meaningful steps to ensure AI models accurately and thoughtfully reflect our reality.”

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About Be My Eyes

Be My Eyes connects blind and low-vision individuals with sighted volunteers and companies through a live video call to provide visual assistance. Be My Eyes’ mission is to make the world more accessible for everyone. Be My Eyes is committed to leading the charge in creating an accessible future by developing unbiased AI that benefits all of us. Together, we can shape technology to be inclusive and reflective of everyone’s experiences.

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Contact Information

Michele Paris

Marketing and Communication Manager

michele@bemyeyes.com