Meta has quietly integrated face-recognition technology into its smart glasses app, raising eyebrows among privacy advocates and tech critics alike. This feature, internally dubbed “NameTag,” can identify people captured by the glasses’ camera and notify wearers when they recognize someone.

The discovery comes as a shock to many who believed Meta had learned from past controversies over biometric data collection. The company’s internal documentation suggests it planned to deploy this technology during periods of political distraction, hinting at a calculated approach that prioritizes user convenience over privacy concerns.

Despite assurances from Meta that nothing has shipped to consumers and no final decision has been made, the fact remains: core components of NameTag are already embedded on millions of phones. This raises significant questions about how long it will be before this technology is fully integrated and deployed.

The renewed push for consumer-level face recognition arrives at a time when privacy advocates warn that such technologies could fall into the wrong hands, enabling everything from stalking to illegal surveillance. The implications are far-reaching, not just for Meta users but for anyone who interacts with smart glasses or related tech in the future.