What Is Are You You? (areyouyou.eu)?

Updated

Are You You? is a free browser-based educational game that challenges you to fool a face recognition algorithm by making funny faces. You win a round when the algorithm's confidence that it is still looking at the same person drops below 50%. The site is an educational project by artist and privacy designer Tijmen Schep, made as part of the Sherpa project, an EU-funded research consortium exploring how AI systems could better protect human rights. It is aimed at anyone curious about how face recognition works and how hard it can be to escape it, presented in a light-hearted way rather than as a technical demo.

What the game actually does

The page loads a face recognition model directly in your browser. You look at the camera, a photo is taken after a five-second countdown, and the algorithm produces a match score for your face. Your job is to deform your face enough that the score falls below the threshold.

The site's own suggested tactics are:

  • Move your head from side to side, up and down
  • Stick out your tongue
  • Laugh
  • Remove your glasses
  • Use your hands to deform your face

After each attempt you see a percentage match, and at the end the game shows which of your photos looked least like you, your average "you" percentage, and how often the algorithm concluded it was likely the same person. Scores are tracked across three levels plus a "beat the system" bonus, and you can download a picture of your result and share it with the hashtags #AreYouYou and #ReclaimYourFace.

Privacy: what is and isn't collected

This is the part worth checking before you turn on your camera. According to the site:

  • The face recognition algorithm runs completely locally in your browser; no pictures of your face are uploaded anywhere.
  • No personal data is collected, and there are no cookies or third-party tracking.
  • The only thing stored is the final score, which the project uses as a viewer count.
  • Camera access is required to play, but the site states it is necessary only for the game itself.

The sharing buttons are described as privacy-friendly and the site says it contains no third-party tracking. If you are evaluating the site for a classroom or workshop, these claims are the relevant ones to verify against your own privacy requirements, since the game cannot run without camera permission.

Who made it and why

Are You You? was developed by Tijmen Schep as part of the Sherpa project, which is supported by the European Union and explores how AI systems could better protect human rights. The stated goal is to show how difficult it can be to escape face recognition technology, but to do so in a light-hearted way. The site also links to the Reclaim Your Face campaign for visitors who want to go further on the topic.

When it's worth trying

Play it if you want a quick, hands-on illustration of how a face recognition model responds to deliberate changes in your appearance, or if you need a discussion starter for a session on privacy and AI. Skip it if you are looking for a technical explanation of how face recognition models are trained or evaluated, or if you cannot or do not want to grant camera access, since the game depends on it. There is no indication on the page of pricing or account requirements; it presents itself as a playable web game with no sign-up described.