Wired found code for an unreleased facial recognition feature in Meta's AI app

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Meta was previously reported to be exploring facial recognition for its smart glasses.

Code for a facial recognition feature that can run on Meta smart glasses is buried in the company's Meta AI app, according to a new report from Wired. While not currently enabled, accessible to customers or part of a formerly announced feature, the code appears to be further evidence that Meta is considering how facial recognition could work with its smart glasses, as The New York Times first reported in February.

The feature, called "NameTag" in the code Wired found, is reportedly capable of capturing people's faces using the company's smart glasses and later notifying the wearer when it recognizes a previously captured face. No part of NameTag is currently running or sending biometric data to Meta's servers today, according to a security researcher who reviewed the code Wired found, but past versions of the Meta AI app have included interface elements for the feature, like a "Connections" menu that suggests users "remember the people you met."

Anonymous Meta sources who spoke to The New York Times similarly referred to the company's facial recognition tool as "Name Tag." Per a memo reviewed during reporting, Meta was interested in launching the feature during a "dynamic political environment" in the US because "civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns." While there are potential accessibility benefits to a pair of smart glasses that can identify faces for users with visual impairments, the feature poses serious ethical concerns, too.

Engadget has contacted Meta for more information about the code Wired found and if the company's stance on offering facial recognition in its smart glasses has changed. We'll update this article if we hear back.

Meta previously used facial recognition in Facebook as part of the platform's photo tagging features, but retired the technology in 2021 over privacy concerns. The company introduced facial recognition to Instagram and Facebook again in 2024, this time framed as a safety tool for detecting faces used in scam ads. Beyond the existence of the code and Meta's longstanding interest in facial recognition, there's nothing to suggest Name Tag will be part of a future pair of Meta's Ray-Ban or Oakley smart glasses. It is intriguing, though, that evidence of the feature keeps appearing.