Meta weighs facial recognition for smart glasses, pushing the boundaries of privacy

Meta is exploring the integration of facial recognition technology into its smart glasses, a move that would allow wearers to identify people in real-time through an artificial intelligence assistant.

The feature, known internally as "Name Tag," could be deployed as early as this year, according to a report from the New York Times. The plan currently remains in the discussion phase.

The technology would prioritize identifying individuals already connected to the user on Meta platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. However, an internal company document from May 2025 acknowledged that the feature presents potential "safety and privacy risks."

Meta is revisiting the concept following a surge in hardware sales, with the company moving more than 7 million smart glasses in 2025. The social media giant previously scrapped its facial recognition photo-tagging system in 2021 following intense public scrutiny over privacy concerns.

While experts suggest the technology could assist the visually impaired, they warned of the potential for abuse and the infringement of personal privacy. A Meta spokesperson said the company is "carefully reviewing" its options.

Meta’s move to revisit facial recognition technology is less a technical iteration and more a calculated stress test of societal boundaries. Bolstered by the commercial momentum of its smart glasses—projected to move 7 million units by 2025—the company is leveraging market success to rehabilitate a capability once deemed too ethically toxic to maintain.

Of particular interest to regulators and privacy advocates is the strategic timing of this rollout. Internal documents reportedly describe the current volatility of the U.S. political landscape as a "favorable window" for the launch. This framing suggests a tactical assumption: that amid a distracted legislative environment and a fragmented public discourse, controversial surveillance tools can be integrated into the consumer market with minimal friction.

This pivot reflects a broader shift in Silicon Valley toward "ambient computing," where hardware functions as an always-on sensor suite rather than a discrete tool. In this model, Meta’s glasses are no longer mere camera accessories; they serve as persistent data-harvesting nodes that feed a broader AI ecosystem. The fundamental policy concern here is not the utility provided to the wearer, but the systemic erosion of public anonymity. By converting public spaces into a field of continuous biometric scanning, Meta is effectively stripping individuals of their right to opt-out of a digital ledger they never agreed to join.

For many Vietnamese Americans—especially those who have lived under the shadow of state surveillance—the mainstreaming of facial recognition technology is deeply unsettling. The possibility of being identified by strangers while walking through Little Saigon or going about our daily lives erodes the sense of privacy and safety that so many in the community have worked to build. It raises urgent questions about who actually controls our biometric data and what it might be used for beyond just social networking.