Your Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses dont have facial recognition yet, and over 70 privacy advocacy organizations want it to stay that way

Date:
Tue, 14 Apr 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Description:
Privacy advocates have urged Meta to cancel its rumored controversial Name
Tag feature.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Tech Radar Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Become a Member in Seconds Unlock instant access to exclusive member
features. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting
your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Join the club Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter
Meta has been urged to scrap its rumored Name Tag feature In an open letter, privacy advocates have said the facial recognition tech is dangerous Meta hasn't announced Name Tag yet, but a statement suggests the feature may still be coming to Ray-Ban glasses Over 70 organizations are asking Meta to cancel its controversial Name Tag AI glasses feature plans out of fear it could supercharge the threat of stalkers and abusers.

While not yet officially announced, a report came out last year suggesting that the company wants to develop an always-on AI system with the ability to recognize peoples faces and other details from your life, like where you left your keys. The story was amplified earlier this year when The New York Times reaffirmed Metas rumored plans . Whats more, the NYT report included a leaked Reality Labs memo that suggests Meta knows the tool is controversial, as it apparently plans to launch Name Tag 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. Article continues below You may like I love my Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses but this summer Im giving up on
them Staff are seeing a lot more from our smart glasses than we might want Im a smart glasses expert and Android fan, but its specs should scare Meta

The document also highlighted possible plans to launch the tool at a conference for the blind to help promote it as an accessibility tool. (Image credit: Meta / Ray-Ban) Despite some possible advantages to Name Tag, various organizations, including the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) and Electronic Privacy Information Center, have signed an open letter urging Meta to protect the publics privacy by never releasing Name Tag or a feature like it.

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, the letter explains.

It added, People should be able to move through their daily lives without
fear that stalkers, scammers, abusers, federal agents, and activists across the political spectrum are silently and invisibly verifying their identities and potentially matching their names to a wealth of readily available data about their habits, hobbies, relationships, health, and behaviors. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

In response, Meta issued a statement saying, Our competitors offer this type of facial recognition product, we do not. If we were to release such a feature, we would take a very thoughtful approach before rolling anything
out. (Image credit: Future / Cas Kulk) The issue some may have with that response is that Meta doesn't promise to never introduce facial recognition
to its specs, just that it would do it the right way. However, this comes off the back of reporting that Meta contractors are seeing a lot more of our AI smart glasses photos and videos than we might have realized.

This second smart glasses era has so far managed to dodge the major
complaints that plagued Google Glass in terms of privacy, but that has changed. If Meta, Google, and even, possibly, Apple want things to go back in a more positive direction, they need to be careful and make stronger guarantees that the public is being taken seriously. What to read next Meta just debuted a duo of new AI glasses style in its Ray-Ban smart specs Mark Zuckerberg says it's 'hard to imagine' a future without AI glasses Meta's dismal record on data collection means I'll be passing on a Meta watch

Smart glasses are still something of a novelty fun but arguably a lot less useful than our phones, smartwatches, and earbuds. If public backlash continues to grow, a second smart glasses decline will likely follow and I say this as someone who thinks the tech could be awesome and would like to
see it flourish.

We just need to make sure privacy protections are taken seriously. Otherwise, I imagine it wont be long before governments or members of the public start taking action. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course, you can also follow TechRadar on YouTube and TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/virtual-reality-augmented-reality/your-met a-ray-ban-smart-glasses-dont-have-facial-recognition-yet-and-over-70-privacy-a dvocacy-organizations-want-it-to-stay-that-way


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)