TL;DR
- Meta has reportedly included the unreleased facial recognition code for its smart glasses into the Meta AI app.
- Internally, the function called NameTag does not appear to be active yet.
- Meta says it’s still only researching the technology, but a new report says key components were added in January.
Ray-Ban Meta sunglasses are already facing new privacy questions after a report highlighted how modders physically turn off the recording LED for stealth shooting. That’s troubling enough, but hidden recording may not be the only issue troubling Meta’s smart glasses. According to a new study, Meta has already embedded code for an unreleased facial recognition system for its smart glasses inside the Meta AI app.
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Narrative Meta said it reviewed the code in the live companion app and found references to a feature called NameTag, which appears to be designed to identify people seen by the glasses’ camera. The Meta AI software is used with the company’s Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses, and the software has been downloaded more than 50 million times.
This feature is not yet enabled for consumers. However, Narrative says the core components of the system, including the three AI models that now sit on users’ phones, were added to the app in January. One model detects faces, another cuts them, and a third converts them into biometric data that can be verified with facial prints stored on the phone. If enabled, the system would notify the user when it recognizes someone. The May version of the app also rebrands the feature as “Connections,” with text inviting users to “remember people you’ve met.”
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Meta retracted the frame of the report. Company spokesman Ryan Daniels told the publication that the findings are “just evidence” that Meta is investigating these types of features, adding that “nothing has been sent to consumers and no final decision has been made.” Meta also said that if it does release something, it will do so with full transparency and is not “creating a central face database.”
This is not the first time NameTag. Back in February, The New York Times reported on internal Meta documentation suggests the company is planning facial recognition for its smart glasses, despite privacy concerns. Those documents also reportedly describe how the current “dynamic political environment” could engage critics of the feature.
The underlying technology, already in the app that people use with Meta’s smart glasses, suggests that potential rollout is imminent. The new report also says that Meta clearly describes facial recognition as something it’s still “thinking about,” even as components of the system are rolled out to users’ phones.
None of this means NameTag will necessarily take off, and Meta’s 2021 shutdown of Facebook’s previous facial recognition system shows just how dangerous this area already is. It’s easy to see how facial recognition works smart glasses it can be helpful if it helps you remember someone you’ve met before. An understandable privacy concern is that recognizing an acquaintance is not the only possible use for this technology, and once Pandora’s box is opened, it can be very difficult to close it again.
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