More than 70 civil liberties and advocacy organizations, including the ACLU, EPIC, and Fight for the Future, have called on Meta to scrap facial recognition plans for its Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses. The groups warn the 'Name Tag' feature could empower stalkers, abusers, and law enforcement to silently identify people, endangering abuse victims, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ individuals.
In a letter reported by WIRED, organizations from civil liberties, domestic violence prevention, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ advocacy, labor, and immigrant rights demanded Meta abandon the facial recognition feature—codenamed 'Name Tag'—internally planned for its Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses. This follows earlier reports in February revealing Meta's development efforts, which faced privacy delays.
The letter highlights severe risks: sexual predators and stalkers identifying victims discreetly, federal agents like ICE and CBP targeting immigrants, and threats to abuse survivors and LGBTQ+ people in public. Meta has not publicly responded. The pushback amplifies broader privacy debates around AI-powered wearables, as competitors like Google eye similar tech.
