Meta quietly pulled facial recognition feature after it was discovered in smart glasses app, criticised
Follow UsAn investigation found Meta's app contained code linked to a facial recognition system internally known as "NameTag."
The latest app update reportedly removes key facial recognition components, including biometric matching and image storage functions.
Privacy advocates say the incident highlights growing concerns around biometric data collection and the need for stronger consumer privacy protections.
Meta has removed most traces of an unreleased facial recognition system from its smart glasses companion app. This comes shortly after an investigation by The Wired revealed that the technology had been integrated within the software installed on millions of devices all over the world.
SurveyPreviously, many reports have suggested that Meta had been developing a feature internally called NameTag, which was designed to identify via images captured by the company’s RayBan smart glasses.
The Wired then published the findings that the feature can covert faces into biometric signatures and compare them against a locally stored database on user’s device. The report also mentioned that the images of unrecognised individuals were being cropped and saved for the future processing.
On the other hand, Meta has described the project as an experimental initiative that has not been even finalised for public use. However, the reports suggested that earlier versions of the Meta AI had references to facial recognition systems, including code related to face detection, biometric matching and notifications that would alert users when a person had been identified.
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Now, the latest version of Meta AI app reportedly removed several facial recognition related components including storage folders that were allegedly intended to hold biometric information and images of unidentified individuals. The report mentioned that some of the traces of the code remain, key elements associated with the feature have been disabled or deleted.
Meta has not issued any official statement regarding why the code was removed or whether the changes were already planned before the report surfaced. The company also has not provided details about how long any collected facial data would be stored, whether it could be shared with company servers, or how the system would comply with privacy regulations if eventually released.
For the unversed, the facial recognition feature came into limelight earlier this year after reports suggested Meta is looking for ways to integrate identity recognition into its smart glasses platform. But what about privacy? That remains to be seen.
