Meta has removed facial recognition components from the latest version of its Meta AI app for smart glasses. This decision followed an investigation published by WIRED.
Journalists discovered a hidden system called NameTag in the smart glasses app's code. This system enabled the creation of unique biometric profiles for individuals captured by the glasses, saving images and indexing faces without users' knowledge.
Meta representatives labeled the investigation as "inaccurate," but subsequently released an update. The new version eliminated libraries for identification, folders for storing processed photos, and notifications for successful recognition.
Meta's Chief Technology Officer, Andrew Bosworth, previously stated that a final decision on implementing the technology had not been made. However, the code contained references to plans for launching the system during a "dynamic political climate," when privacy concerns might be less prominent.
Human rights advocates from the ACLU criticized the company's actions, arguing that the covert implementation of such code underscores the need for strict legislative regulation of biometric data collection.
Currently, the app only contains a few mentions of the system in the debugging menu. Meta declined to answer WIRED's questions regarding the reasons for the code's removal.
It’s worth noting that in March, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Meta for allegedly sending intimate images captured by the smart glasses to contractors in Kenya.