Meta Faces Privacy Questions Over Hidden Facial-Recognition System
Meta is facing fresh privacy scrutiny after reports revealed facial recognition-related code linked to its internal NameTag system within the Meta AI app.
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Meta is facing renewed scrutiny over privacy and transparency after reports revealed that facial recognition-related code was embedded within its Meta AI app, raising concerns about how the company may be developing future biometric technologies.
The controversy is over an internal system called "NameTag," which was reportedly discovered in the codebase for the Meta AI app, a companion platform for the company’s Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses.
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Facial Recognition Feature Under Development:
Reports say the NameTag system is intended to identify people by analysing faces picked up through Meta’s smart glasses ecosystem.
Meta said the feature was not rolled out publicly and was not turned on for users, but researchers saw that the code appeared to contain the necessary building blocks to allow facial recognition capabilities.
The news comes as the app itself has reportedly passed 50 million downloads.
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How NameTag Works:
According to reports, the system would be creating biometric identifiers, or “faceprints,” from images taken from the smart glasses.
The faceprints could then be stored on a user device and compared to previously stored biometric data to potentially identify individuals.
Researchers who looked at the code said the system appeared to use a few AI models that could detect faces, crop them from the photos and convert them into biometric signatures for recognition.
Some observers said the technology looked to be fairly well developed, although it was not active.
Meta Removes Code:
Following reports about the discovery, Meta reportedly removed substantial portions of the facial recognition-related code in a subsequent update to the app.
The company, however, denied that the removal was directly linked to media coverage and maintained that the technology remained in an exploratory stage.
A Meta spokesperson said no final decision had been made regarding a public rollout and stressed that the feature had not been launched for users.
The company also reiterated that it is not creating a central facial recognition database.
