Wired Found Code for an Unreleased Facial Recognition Feature in Meta's AI App
Wired found code suggesting Meta has tested a facial recognition feature for smart glasses inside its Meta AI app.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
The code points to a feature called NameTag that could capture faces with Meta smart glasses and later identify them for the wearer. Meta says nothing has shipped, no final decision has been made, and it is not building a central face database.
Meta may be testing glasses that can help someone remember faces, like a tiny helper that whispers, "That person was seen before." It could help some people, but it also makes many people worry about being watched without asking.
Analysis
What Wired found
Wired reported code buried in Meta's AI app that appears to reference an unreleased facial recognition feature for Meta smart glasses. The feature is referred to as "NameTag" in the code and seems designed to capture faces and later alert the wearer when it recognizes someone previously seen.
What Meta says
Meta's Ryan Daniels told Engadget that the company is still only exploring these kinds of features. He said nothing has shipped to consumers, no final decision has been made, and Meta is not building a central face database. The company also said that if it ever rolls something out, it would do so with transparency.
Why the discovery stands out
The report does not show an active consumer feature, but it adds to earlier reporting that Meta has been considering facial recognition for smart glasses. Wired also noted that past versions of the app included interface hints such as a "Connections" menu that told users to remember people they met.
The bigger context
Meta has a history with face recognition. It used the technology in Facebook's photo tagging tools before ending that use in 2021 because of privacy concerns. In 2024, the company brought face recognition back to Instagram and Facebook as a safety feature for spotting faces used in scam ads.
The new code does not prove NameTag will launch in future Ray-Ban or Oakley glasses. It does show that Meta has continued to experiment with a feature that could be useful for some users, including people with visual impairments, while also raising serious questions about consent, surveillance, and data handling.
Key points
- Wired found code in Meta's AI app that appears to reference an unreleased facial recognition feature for smart glasses.
- The code uses the name "NameTag" and suggests the glasses could recognize previously captured faces and notify the wearer.
- Meta says nothing has shipped, no final decision has been made, and it is not building a central face database.
- The discovery follows earlier reporting that Meta was exploring facial recognition for smart glasses.
- The feature could have accessibility benefits, but it also raises serious privacy and ethics concerns.
If Meta ever ships a version of the feature, it could help users identify people they have met before and may be especially useful for people with visual impairments. Meta also says it would take a thoughtful approach and be transparent if it decides to release anything.
A face-recognition feature in smart glasses could raise major privacy and consent concerns, especially if people are identified without clearly agreeing to it. Even if Meta says no central face database is being built, the feature could still be viewed as normalizing more ambient identification in public spaces.
