Meta’s Smart Glasses and the Controversy Over Facial Recognition
Meta has recently introduced a new feature to its smart glasses platform that allows users to identify strangers using facial recognition technology. This development has raised concerns among security researchers, who warn about the potential risks associated with such a feature.
The surveillance code has been quietly integrated into Meta’s AI app, which has reportedly been downloaded by millions of users. However, this feature is not yet active. When contacted, Meta stated that it has not made a final decision on whether to activate the functionality.
The feature, known as ‘NameTag’, was first reported by Wired. It uses the built-in cameras in Meta’s Ray-Ban and Oakley models to compare people’s faces with biometric data stored in the Meta AI companion app. Cooper Quintin, a security researcher at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), highlighted the dangers of this technology in a blog post.
“When this feature is activated, it will convert every new face in the sightlines of the surveillance glasses into a series of numbers, and compare it to all the existing faceprints in the user’s database,” he wrote.
Meta first showed interest in adding facial recognition capabilities to its smart glasses in an internal memo last year, according to a report from the New York Times. The document suggested that the company was considering launching the feature during a period of political instability, where many civil society groups might be preoccupied with other issues.
In 2021, Meta faced public backlash over its controversial photo-tagging system. As a result, the company announced it would delete more than a billion faceprints from its social media platform. Additionally, Meta was ordered to pay $650 million to settle a class-action lawsuit related to Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) law.
It remains unclear whose faces could be identified through the new NameTag feature or whether individuals will have the option to opt out. A Meta spokesperson, Ryan Daniels, told The Independent that the company is exploring such features but has not finalized any decisions.
“We’ve said before we’re exploring these types of features, and what you’re seeing is just evidence of that exploration,” Daniels said. “Nothing has shipped to consumers and no final decision has been made on what to do here, if anything. If we do decide to roll something out, we will take a thoughtful approach and do so with full transparency.”
One thing is clear: Meta is not building a central face database.
In April, over 70 organizations urged Meta to abandon its plans to add facial recognition technology to its smart glasses. They argued that the technology could be misused by stalkers and abusers.
The Independent has always had a global perspective. Built on a firm foundation of superb international reporting and analysis, The Independent now enjoys a reach that was inconceivable when it was launched as an upstart player in the British news industry. For the first time since the end of the Second World War, and across the world, pluralism, reason, a progressive and humanitarian agenda, and internationalism – Independent values – are under threat. Yet we, The Independent, continue to grow.
