Meta Deploys Face-Recognition Code to Millions of Glasses, Reviving Tech It Settled for $650 Million
Updated
Updated · EFF · Jun 4
Meta Deploys Face-Recognition Code to Millions of Glasses, Reviving Tech It Settled for $650 Million
3 articles · Updated · EFF · Jun 4
Summary
Wired and EFF’s Threat Lab confirmed Meta has active facial-recognition code inside its always-on smart glasses system, though the feature is not yet exposed to consumers.
2,048-number faceprints are generated for each detected face and matched against a user database; a researcher who manually added a face in debug mode got the glasses to recognize that person on sight.
Meta previously paid $650 million to settle an Illinois biometric privacy case over mass facial recognition on its platform, then shut that feature down.
An internal Meta document had said the company wanted to launch facial recognition during a “dynamic political environment” when civil society groups would be focused elsewhere, sharpening concerns about distributed surveillance.
Meta's facial recognition feature, NameTag, designed for Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, was discovered embedded in the companion app but remains inactive. This revelation, based on internal documents, sparked immediate public outcry due to serious privacy concerns. Critics fear that always-on facial recognition in everyday wearables could lead to instant doxxing and tracking without consent. The controversy highlights growing unease about the normalization of biometric surveillance in public spaces, as the dormant code means the infrastructure for widespread identification is already in place, raising urgent questions about privacy, transparency, and the future of public anonymity.