The Feature Is Not Currently Active Or Sending Biometric Data But An Internal Meta Memo Suggested Launching It During A “Dynamic Political Environment” When “Civil Society Groups Would Have Their Resources Focused On Other Concerns”
According to Engadget and Wired, code for a facial recognition feature called “NameTag” is buried in Meta’s AI app, capable of capturing people’s faces using the company’s smart glasses and later notifying the wearer when it recognises a previously captured face.
No part of NameTag is currently running or sending biometric data to the company’s servers, according to a security researcher who reviewed the code, but past versions of the AI app have included interface elements for the feature, including a “Connections” menu suggesting users “remember the people you met.”
Per a memo reviewed during reporting, Meta was interested in launching the feature during a “dynamic political environment” in the US because “civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.”
Ryan 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 decision we can be clear about: we are not building a central face database.”
Meta previously used facial recognition in Facebook as part of photo tagging features but retired the technology in 2021 over privacy concerns, and introduced it again to Instagram and Facebook in 2024, framed as a safety tool for detecting faces used in scam ads.
To check out our previous coverage on Meta, AI privacy, and facial recognition, read our articles here.
