Five years after deactivating its facial recognition system on Facebook for privacy reasons, the Meta group is preparing to reintroduce this technology. According to information revealed by the New York Times, Mark Zuckerberg’s company plans to integrate a facial recognition feature into its smart glasses designed in partnership with EssilorLuxottica, starting this year.
Facial recognition, known as “Name Tag,” allows for on-demand identification of people based on public Instagram and Facebook profiles. But this is just one part of a larger project called “Super Sensing.” The goal is to transform the glasses into an assistant capable of recording the user’s environment continuously throughout the day.
With “Super Sensing,” the cameras and sensors would operate constantly. The system would then analyze the user’s day to offer contextual reminders. This means that the AI would not just respond but anticipate needs by identifying faces and objects in real-time.
The most striking element from internal documents consulted by the New York Times is Meta’s cynical calculation regarding the timing of the launch. The American giant believes that the political turmoil in the United States works in its favor.
In recent weeks, the use of facial recognition in American streets by ICE, the federal immigration agency, has been widely criticized due to errors and infringement of fundamental liberties, illustrating the misuse of this technology.
Experts’ skepticism is fueled by recent incidents that demonstrate the vulnerability of the current system, not to mention the ethical questions raised by such features. For example, in 2024, Harvard students showed that it was possible to link Meta glasses to a third-party software (PimEyes) to identify strangers within seconds.
Meta hopes to establish this technology as a new standard before legislators can act, taking advantage of the absence of federal law and the relaxation of its internal control processes decided in January 2025. While the American political climate seems favorable to Meta, Europe is currently protected by regulatory texts.
The AI Act strictly prohibits biometric identification at a distance in public spaces for commercial use. The “Super Sensing” project, with its continuous recording, would also breach fundamental GDPR principles regarding data minimization and consent.
European lawmakers adopted the first AI regulation, known as the “AI Act,” on March 13, 2024. The principle of data minimization requires personal data to be adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary for processing.
Note: Meta argues that this feature is a benefit for visually impaired individuals, as the Ray-Ban Meta glasses can assist them in a limited capacity through a partnership with the Be My Eyes app.
