Privacy Advocates Demand Meta Ditch Smart Glasses Facial Recognition

More than 70 organizations , including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Fight for the Future, have asked Meta Platforms Inc. to stop pursuing facial recognition features for its smart glasses, according to a formal letter sent to the company. The coalition urged Meta to “immediately halt and publicly disavow” any work aimed at adding facial recognition to consumer eyewear, arguing the technology would create major privacy and civil liberties risks.

The groups said Meta should abandon the idea entirely, contending the company cannot be relied upon to deploy facial recognition in a safe way. In their view, the risks are not limited to how a product is configured, but stem from placing identification tools into discreet, everyday devices that can be used in public without drawing attention.

The letter pointed to potential outcomes the coalition considers especially dangerous, including broad surveillance and heightened exposure for marginalized communities. It also raised legal concerns, warning that facial recognition could run into state privacy laws that require explicit consent before biometric information is collected.

The organizations framed these issues as structural, arguing that design tweaks or opt-out settings would not address the underlying threat posed by facial recognition embedded in inconspicuous eyewear.

The coalition referenced a reported internal project name, “Name Tag,” described as a rumored effort to identify people who are connected to Meta platforms. The letter presented this as an example of how facial recognition in smart glasses could be used to link real-world encounters to online identities, which the groups said would intensify privacy harms.

The organizations also emphasized who they believe would face the greatest risks if such tools became available. They cited domestic violence survivors, people targeted for harassment, religious minorities, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, women, and children as groups that could be particularly affected, while also arguing that the broader public would face a significant erosion of privacy in everyday spaces.

Separately, the letter noted that this push comes after a similar request directed at the U.S. Congress in March by a different set of organizations. In addition to calling for Meta to drop facial recognition plans, the coalition urged the company to stop opposing privacy legislation that would require explicit user consent for biometric data processing.