People have long had a fascination with the possibilities of smart contact lenses. Now that some options might be available to buy relatively soon, wearers may wonder whether these products will have sufficient security.
So what do you need to know about smart contact lenses? Are they realistic? And, most importantly, will they actually be safe to use?
Who Is Working on Smart Contact Lenses?
So far, only a few companies are aiming to commercialize smart contacts. Here are some key things to know about them.
Innovega
Innovega has its eMacula product, which includes smart glasses and contacts people wear together. The company does not specify what role the lenses play in the user experience. However, its website says content gets fed to screens built into the glasses.
It does not mention anything about security or data collection and storage.
Plus, the all-important question of when people can buy this product remains in question. An entry on the company’s FAQ page about when someone could buy the glasses said Innovega expected to get regulatory clearance by 2018, but there are no more recent updates. A banner on the homepage also advertised an investment opportunity that was set to close on Nov. 12, 2021.
Azalea Vision
Azalea Vision is a Belgian startup with a medical focus for its smart contacts. The company raised €8 million in a Series A funding round in the summer of 2021. Its goal is to make smart contact lenses for people with light sensitivity and ocular disorders.
The company’s team is still working on them, but the idea is that the lenses would automatically adjust the perceived brightness of incoming light. Eye professionals would also customize the lenses to individual wearers.
These smart contacts could have broad appeal if approved. For example, approximately eight percent of white males have color blindness; serious cases can cause light sensitivity. Also, the Azalea Vision team intends to target migraine sufferers with its lenses since bright environments can worsen these often-debilitating headaches.
Azalea Vision does not mention the security aspect. However, there’s no indication these lenses collect data.
Mojo
Mojo developed its Mojo Lens, which can correct someone’s vision, plus display digital overlay content in the environment. For example, once someone finishes a run, they might see a map of their route, plus relevant statistics, shown on a surface in front of them.
The lenses have LED displays the size of a grain of sand, along with smart sensors running on solid-state batteries.
Mojo says its contact lenses run on a proprietary platform the company called Invisible Computing. It only provides information when needed. The company’s website also suggests a data privacy focus:
"Asking you to wear Mojo Lens is something we don’t take lightly, and we’re dedicated to earning your trust. That’s why we are building our Invisible Computing platform in such a way that your data stays secure and private.
It continues:
"We believe the things you do with Mojo Lens should belong to you and you alone; technology should benefit the user and not the other way around. We are committed to being open with you about the design of our products and how we deliver our experiences to you in simple terms."
However, the company does not give further details. Its promises sound intriguing, but upholding them may pose unforeseen challenges.
Security Questions for Developers
Users can strengthen the security of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and those tips could apply to smart contact lenses as well. For example, people who buy products with an app that has a default password should immediately change it to something hard to guess.
They should also take care to keep any associated software updated, including by activating automatic updates if possible.
However, security starts in the development stage. Here are some actionable questions developers need to ask themselves while working on smart contacts.
Does It Have Unnecessary Capabilities and Features?
In today’s crowded IoT market, companies remain under pressure to release products with the latest, best features. However, responding to that call sometimes puts security at risk. Developers should assess which components of their smart contacts could open the products to threats from outside parties.
They should then determine how to best mitigate those risks through security safeguards. Performing cybersecurity tests on the products while in development is an excellent way to see if preventive measures hold up against simulated attacks.
Including features that let users take more control over IoT security is a great idea. In the hypothetical case of smart contacts that allow people to purchase products they see, users may opt not to have their credit card details stored. They could also use a feature that disables purchases if their payment card is lost.
That limits the data hackers can access and what they do with it.
How Will People Report Security Flaws?
Since smart contact lenses are newer products, people will probably be especially interested in whether they’re safe to use. Security professionals engage in ethical hacking to answer that all-important question.
However, a November 2021 report showed that less than 22 percent of firms have Vulnerability Disclosure Policies (VDP) established. Those frameworks spell out how the relevant parties should report the problems they find. A VDP may also feature specifics to protect the disclosing party from potential legal ramifications.
IoT developers must ask themselves the crucial questions surrounding vulnerability reports, including what to do once new information arrives. For example, how will a vendor attempt to recreate a cybersecurity researcher’s findings?
How Will We Monitor for Problems and Push Updates?
In an ideal situation, consumers would never know about security issues with their smart contact lenses. Instead, developers would be aware of them and fix them promptly enough before associated problems occur.
Developers should explore how they could embed diagnostic capabilities that help them monitor for issues and address them internally. Doing that helps development teams pick up on performance problems and decreased stability before customers or researchers notice shortcomings.
Relatedly, developers should think about the best ways to update smart contacts as needed. It’s insufficient to expect all users to install new software or firmware versions. Some will, but catching those who fall through the cracks means looking at how a vendor could automatically distribute the updates to connected devices from their end.
Smart Contact Lenses in Research Labs
Researchers are also interested in how smart contact lenses could help people stay healthier. The associated efforts are in their early phases, and it seems those involved have not yet discussed security features. However, it’s worth mentioning what’s underway, especially since the outcomes may improve lives and change disease management.
One innovation concerns smart contact lenses that detect diabetes. They can also assist in treating diabetic retinopathy, which damages the retina and could lead to sight loss, since the contacts have a built-in drug-delivery system. The developers did not say how the contacts pick up on diabetes signs but confirmed the products have wireless sensors.
Elsewhere, scientists at Perdue University made smart contacts for the early detection and diagnosis of ocular diseases, including glaucoma. The soft lenses include sensors that record electrophysiological retinal activity, enabling unobtrusive monitoring. Since the contacts are in clinical trials now, it’ll be a while before they might become commercially available.
Finally, researchers in Japan developed self-moisturizing smart contact lenses to prevent uncomfortable dryness. These products rely on electro-osmotic flow, which makes liquid move in response to voltage sent across a charged surface.
The application of current for these lenses is on a hydrogel, stimulating fluid flow from a wearer’s temporary tear reservoir to the eye’s surface. The team also tested two batteries in their experiments.
Smart Contact Lenses Have Potential
This overview highlights why many people are rightfully excited about smart contacts that go beyond vision correction. Although many of these products remain in early development, a security-centered focus could make people more eager to try them when available.