There is a visceral reaction to having light shone in your eyes and imagining light being shone in your eyes.

There is a perception of danger to the eyes from scanning vs danger from finger print scans.

Also on a more emotional level, eyes are seen as the place where true emotion is shown.

“Look into my eyes and tell you aren’t lying”

Having your eyes scanned therefore feels more intimate, meaning a higher barrier to acceptance.

Sam Altman has a track record of saying we should protect hate speech otherwise the Bay Area is worse than China.