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ACLU and other organizations warn Meta against adding facial recognition to smart glasses

Mashable · · International · Surveillance & Civil Liberties

The ACLU and allied organizations have sent a warning to Meta urging the company not to integrate facial recognition technology into its smart glasses products. The groups are raising concerns before such a capability is built in, rather than after.

Why this matters: Smart glasses with facial recognition would let anyone quietly identify a stranger on the street in seconds. No consent, no warning, no opt-out. That changes how public space works. Right now, being in a crowd means being anonymous to most people around you. That assumption is worth protecting. Meta already has one of the largest facial databases in the world. Putting that capability into wearable hardware is not an upgrade. It is a surveillance tool that fits on your face.

Who should care: Privacy officers · Cybersecurity · General readers · Policy

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