Meta could become a deadly weapon for sex offenders by incorporating facial recognition technology into its smart glasses

 Meta could become a deadly weapon for sex offenders by incorporating facial recognition technology into its smart glasses

Human rights and civil liberties groups around the world have strongly opposed Meta’s plans to include facial recognition technology in its Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses. A coalition of more than 70 organizations has warned that the feature could give sex offenders, stalkers and government agents the power to silently identify anyone in public.

Known as ‘Name Tag’ within Meta, the feature operates through an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant built into the smart glasses. It helps to instantly extract information about strangers in front of the wearer. According to reports, Meta engineers are working on two versions of it.

One, which will only recognize people who are already connected to Meta’s platforms with the user. The other, a more comprehensive version that can identify anyone with a ‘public account’ on services like Instagram.

The ACLU, Electronic Privacy Information Center, Fight for the Future, and Access Now, among others, wrote to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, saying the feature puts victims of sexual assault, immigrants, and LGBTQ people at risk. They said there is no way for people walking in public to consent to their identities being revealed.

The coalition warned that scammers and criminals could use the technology to collect data related to people’s names, habits, hobbies, relationships, health, and behavior. Epic wrote to the Federal Trade Commission that the technology would completely eliminate privacy and anonymity for people in performance venues, places of worship, and medical clinics.

According to an internal memo from Meta’s Reality Labs dated May 2025, obtained by The New York Times, the company plans to release the feature at a time when civil society organizations will be focused on other political issues. Meta has sought to capitalize on the “dynamic political climate” to quell the protests. Citizen groups have called it “despicable behavior” and accused Meta of exploiting growing authoritarianism and disregard for the rule of law.

A Meta spokesperson said that while its competitors have offered such products, Meta has not yet. “If we were to introduce such a feature, we would take a very thoughtful approach,” he said. However, the company that makes the smart glasses, Asiloralxotica, has not commented on the matter.

Meta has paid a heavy legal price in the past for facial recognition and biometric privacy. Meta paid a settlement of nearly $2 billion in Illinois and Texas for collecting facial data without users’ consent. In 2019, Meta paid the FTC a $5 billion fine, the largest in the agency’s history, for privacy violations.

A Los Angeles jury recently ordered Instagram and YouTube to pay $6 million in damages for harmful design. The Massachusetts Supreme Court also recently ruled that Meta is not immune from consumer protection lawsuits alleging that the feature was designed to be addictive to young users.

The coalition is demanding that Meta completely remove the feature. It is also pressing Meta to disclose any incidents where its devices have been used for stalking, harassment, or domestic violence, and to make public any discussions it has had with federal agencies such as ICE or CBP. They are urging Meta to consult with independent privacy experts before installing biometric identification on any consumer device.