Meta Installed Facial Recognition Code on Smart Glasses Without Notice

Credit: René Ramos/Lifehacker Composite/Adobe Stock

Key Takeaways

1. Meta has reportedly pushed facial recognition code onto its smart glasses.
2. Security researchers found Meta quietly pushed the “NameTag” software architecture to existing consumer smart glasses months ago without user notification.
3. If activated, the software turns off-the-shelf eyewear into a local scanning tool, converting bystander images into searchable biometric “faceprints.”

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According to a report from Wired, Meta has been quietly installing facial recognition in its Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta smart glasses for the last few months. Internally called “NameTag,” the feature, if activated, will use AI to identify people captured by the glasses’ camera, alert the wearer when it recognizes someone, and store faceprints on users’ phones.

The software has not been switched on, but if it is, it will use Meta’s AI app to transform images of anyone photographed with Meta glasses into a biometric faceprint, and check against a database of faceprints stored locally on the user’s Meta AI mobile app. If it finds a match, the user will be notified. If it doesn’t, the faceprint will be indexed into a folder named “pending.” So everyone the wearer encounters in public could become an unidentified target waiting for a name in a stranger’s private database.

“The feature is not yet exposed to consumers but seems nearly ready to go,” said Cooper Quintin, a security researcher and senior public interest technologist with the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Threat Lab, in a statement to Wired. “Despite the billions of reasons not to, Meta seems to have created the capacity to turn their customers into a distributed surveillance machine.”

Back in February, documents obtained by the New York Times revealed Meta was weighing the “safety and privacy risks” of adding facial recognition to its smart glasses. In April, the company said it was taking “a very thoughtful approach” to the technology. But the first component of the facial recognition software was installed in January, without consumers being aware of it.

It goes deeper than that, though. According to the company memo leaked to the Times, Meta’s potential strategy was to roll out facial recognition “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.” In other words, Meta is well aware of the general disdain for facial recognition, but seems intent on developing the technology anyway.

The Unpopularity of Facial Recognition Software in Smart Glasses

In April 2026, in response to the New York Times’ story, over 70 organizations — including advocates for domestic violence survivors, worker rights, bodily autonomy, consumer privacy, civil rights, and the ACLU — demanded Meta halt its NameTag facial recognition plans. In an open letter, the coalition wrote: “Facial recognition technology built into inconspicuous consumer eyewear represents a serious threat to privacy and civil liberties for every member of our society, and particularly for historically marginalized and vulnerable groups.”

Privacy advocates aren’t the only people opposed to facial recognition in smart glasses. According to a YouGov survey, nearly half of all adults are in favor of a total ban on all smart glasses in public places due to concerns over built-in cameras and internet connectivity.

Meta’s Long History with Facial Recognition Technology

Despite being extremely unpopular with consumers, Meta/Facebook has had a long-running relationship with the concept of using technology to capture and categorize people’s faces. Facebook identified and tagged people on its social media sites as early as 2010, but the company pulled the feature in 2021, citing “many concerns about the place of facial recognition technology in society.” A $650 million class-action settlement may have also been a factor. Meta debated adding facial recognition to the first generation of its Ray-Ban smart glasses in 2021, but decided against it at the time, citing privacy concerns.

According to Meta, there is nothing to be concerned about. “Regardless of any sensational reporting, the facts are simple: We’ve said before we’re exploring these types of features, and what you’re seeing is just evidence of that exploration,” Meta spokesperson Ryan Daniels said in a statement. “Nothing has shipped to consumers and no final decision has been made on what to do here, if anything.”