Don’t call it privacy-preserving or human-centric pose estimation if you don’t measure privacy

This position paper argues that human pose estimation (HPE) cannot be considered privacy-preserving or human-centric unless privacy is measured and evaluated. Although privacy concerns have become more visible in recent years, HPE systems are still assessed almost exclusively using accuracy metrics. Privacy is neither defined in measurable terms nor linked to regulatory requirements, and common deployment architectures introduce additional risks due to data transmission and storage. We highlight the limitations of current practices, including the continued reliance on RGB inputs and the lack of benchmarks that reflect legal and ethical constraints. We call for a shift in evaluation practices: privacy must become part of how HPE systems are designed, tested, and compared.