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Facebook has two patents titled "Dynamic eye tracking calibration" and "Techniques for emotion detection and content delivery" registered already under its name.
Facebook says it may develop eye-tracking tools that would add a new layer to the way it monitors its 2.2 billion monthly users.
Facebook is already accused of violating user privacy by collecting data derived from Facebook users' faces in photographs.In new documents, the social networking giant has already admitted that it allows advertisers to target users based on their "interests" and "behaviors".
Facebook said it was not building eye-tracking software "right now" but did not rule out doing so in the future. "We're always exploring how new technologies and methods can improve our services," it said. "If we implement this technology in the future, we will absolutely do so with people's privacy in mind, just as we do with movement information."
Facebook said the technology could be used to "reduce consumer friction" and "add security" for people when they log into Oculus, the virtual reality service from Facebook. The abstract for the dynamic eye-tracking calibration patent suggests that users could control objects and apps on a screen with their gaze.The patents are, however, likely to be ammunition for critics who say Facebook already collects too much data.
