Meta Removes Face-Recognition Code from Smart Glasses App After WIRED Exposé
Original: Meta Deletes Face-Recognition System From Its Smart Glasses App After WIRED Report
Why This Matters
Highlights transparency issues in tech development of controversial biometric features
Meta deleted face-recognition system components from its Meta AI app one day after WIRED revealed the unreleased NameTag feature was embedded in the companion app for its smart glasses, installed on over 50 million phones.
WIRED's analysis of the latest Meta AI app version shows removal of code libraries explicitly named for face recognition that powered Meta's internal NameTag system. The feature was designed to convert faces captured by smart glasses into biometric signatures and compare them against device-stored databases. Though never publicly enabled, the system could crop, index, and store unrecognized faces locally. NameTag first emerged in February reports citing internal Meta documents about potential launch during a 'dynamic political environment.' After WIRED's exposé, Meta executives Andy Stone and Andrew Bosworth dismissed findings as misleading, with Stone stating 'the feature does not exist.' Meta declined to answer questions about database creation, data retention, user opt-in/opt-out options, or addressing privacy advocates' stalking concerns.