ACLU warns Meta against facial recognition in smart glasses

Meta is reportedly planning to integrate facial recognition technology into its smart glasses, but not everyone is content to sit back and let it happen.

Per Wired, more than 70 organizations such as the ACLU and Fight for the Future have signed a letter urging Meta to “immediately halt and publicly oppose” its plans to bring facial recognition technology to its growing line of smart glasses. In March, a separate group of organizations wrote to Congress expressing similar concerns.

These groups agree that Meta cannot be trusted to safely incorporate the technology into its glasses at all, and thus say the best course of action for Meta is to end its plans entirely.

Don’t miss our latest news: Add Mashable as a trusted news source on Google.

We, the undersigned 75 local, state, and national organizations representing domestic violence survivors, labor rights, physical autonomy, consumer privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties, are writing to urge Meta to immediately stop and publicly oppose its plans to use facial recognition features in its Ray-Ban and Oakley so-called Talkly glasses.

The letter also calls on Meta to “Stop opposing privacy legislation that would require Meta to obtain a user’s express consent before collecting or processing biometric data.” As Mashable previously reported, facial recognition features may violate some countries’ privacy laws, which prohibit companies from collecting biometric data without authentication permission.

Mashable has reached out to Meta for comment and will update this story if necessary.

The concern here, of course, is that the Meta glasses with facial recognition would give predators and other passive pits more power to do damage. Freedom groups have also warned that widespread facial recognition could lead to a situation of surveillance.

The book puts forward a complete case for its argument:

“Face recognition technology built into invisible consumer eyewear represents a major threat to the privacy and civil liberties of all members of our society, and especially to historically marginalized and vulnerable groups including survivors of domestic violence, victims of stalking and sexual harassment, religious minorities, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and women and children. Products, among others, will not solve these changes, without concern. Increasing protections – several of which are Meta which seems to have considered itself logically.

Meta’s internal name for the facial recognition technology is reportedly Name Tag, and it’s rumored to launch as soon as this year.

According to Engadget, it works in one of two ways: Name Tag can identify people who are actively connected to the Meta platform at the time, or it can identify people who just happen to have an account on a service like Instagram. In other words, it can’t identify you if you don’t have a Meta account, at least not yet.

This potential damage can also be accompanied by ongoing issues, such as recording attacks from smart glasses.

If Meta wants to avoid the fate that befell Google Glass, it will need to solve some of these problems, one way or another.

Want to learn more about getting the most out of your technology? Sign up for Mashable’s Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.