Meta quietly adds facial recognition ‘NameTag’ to smart glasses, raising privacy concerns 'I don't know how Meta can responsibly deploy a technology like this,' privacy advocates says Meta is once again in the spotlight as the tech giant has reportedly been installing facial recognition software in its smart glasses, including Oakley and Ray-Ban smart glasses for the last few months. According to an analysis conducted by The Wired, Meta has quietly integrated code for face recognition, named NameTag, into its Meta AI companion app which is required to use Meta glasses. Through this feature, people wearing these glasses can easily identify other people in the surroundings captured by the glasses’ cameras. How this NameTag feature works The NameTag system consists of important components, including three AI models designed for detecting, cropping and encoding faces into biometric faceprints. Once activated, it converts every face the glasses see into a biometric signature and checks it against a database on the phone, one built to receive updates from Meta's servers. Although the feature is not yet active for users,the code embedded in the NameTag has been distributed through updates to millions of phones. Previously, Meta stated that it would take a “thoughtful approach” when it comes to rolling out the feature for the public and the company has not decided yet whether to introduce this feature or not. However, the security researchers’ claims contradict Meta’s statement. They confirmed that code is almost ready for deployment, citing “they're one switch away.” They also tested the matching system using a sample image and researchers got back two words: "Person recognized." According to Cooper Quintin, a security researcher and senior public interest technologist with the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Threat Lab, “The feature is not yet exposed to consumers but seems nearly ready to go. Despite