 “Great to see you … Bob … How’s … Maggie ... and those three wonderful … dogs of yours.” You have to admit, it will be a boon to politicians. Adding facial recognition software to smartglasses will enable them and anyone at a cocktail party to dispense with all those tiresome strategies for remembering names and familiar facts about the person in front of them. According to a 2025 internal company memo obtained by The New York Times, Meta plans to quietly equip its line of smartglasses with facial recognition technology dubbed “Name Tag.” Facial recognition technology is one of the most robust privacy-destroying tools. This was an idea that was floated and dropped five years ago for Meta’s social media platforms. Now it is back, this time as a wearable in Meta’s Ray-Ban and Oakley smartglasses. The strategy behind this policy reversal is breathtakingly cynical. The Meta memo held that the new feature’s debut would go largely unnoticed if it were launched “during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.” This presumably is a nod to the looming FISA Section 702 debate in April, as well as a torrent of other privacy-destructive technologies, like the unfolding national network of Flock cameras. So plan ahead. You might be at lunch several years from now with a bunch of business prospects wearing Ray-Bans or Oakleys, finding them unusually quiet from time to time. That’s because they will be reading up on you in real time with the help of Meta’s AI assistant. Meta is weighing identification only of people who are on its platforms, not strangers you pass on the street. But we are skeptical. Even without facial recognition tech installed, the company’s smartglasses can be hacked and made to identify strangers. And let’s not forget that Meta smartglasses already offer livestreaming and the ability to post directly to Instagram. But try to think of the bright side: You’ll never have to introduce yourself again. Comments are closed.
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