Meta smart glasses patent reignites facial recognition debate
Meta has filed a patent related to its smart glasses that involves facial recognition technology, reviving concerns about real-time identification capabilities built into consumer wearables.
Why this matters: Smart glasses with facial recognition mean anyone near you could be identified without their knowledge or consent. No app to download, no obvious camera pointed at them. Just someone wearing glasses. Meta has a long history with facial recognition and a long history of pushing boundaries on what it can do with the data it collects. The real issue is not a patent. It is whether any company should be allowed to put this capability on a device millions of people wear in public, where the rest of us never agreed to be scanned.
Who should care: Privacy officers · Cybersecurity · General readers · Policy
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