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Meta Backlash After Facial Recognition Code Found in Smart Glasses
Code for a hidden facial recognition feature, 'NameTag,' has been uncovered within Meta's AI smart glasses app. Despite Meta's claims that the feature is only 'exploratory,' company executives are strongly criticizing the journalists who brought this information to light.
On June 8, 2026, a significant revelation about Meta's AI-enabled smart glasses emerged, sparking a strong reaction from the company's top brass. As *Wired* reported last week, journalists uncovered code for a facial recognition feature, internally named 'NameTag,' embedded within the Meta AI app.
According to *Wired*, NameTag is designed to 'transform faces captured by Meta's glasses into unique biometric signatures, commonly known as faceprints, and check each one against faceprints stored on the user's phone.' The magazine clarified that the feature is not yet active for consumers. The prospect of smart glasses with facial recognition has long worried privacy advocates, and Meta's rising smart glasses adoption intensifies these concerns, regardless of the feature's current inactive status.
Meta dismissed the discovery as 'sensational,' telling *Wired* that NameTag is merely 'exploratory.' The company stated, 'Nothing has shipped to consumers and no final decision has been made on what to do here, if anything.' Meta also pledged transparency if the feature ever rolls out, adding, 'we are not building a central face database.' However, several high-ranking Meta executives took to social media, accusing *Wired* of 'misleading' and 'dishonest' reporting.
Meta's VP of Communications, Andy Stone, criticized *Wired* for burying information about the feature's inactive status and Meta's exploratory stance. Stone called the reporting 'intellectually dishonest' and 'pure advocacy-driven click bait.' Chief Technology Officer Andrew 'Boz' Bosworth echoed this sentiment, stating it was 'incredibly misleading from *Wired*,' and 'absolutely dishonest.'
What this means: This isn't the first time 'NameTag' has surfaced. The *New York Times* reported in February 2026 on an internal Meta memo discussing plans to integrate NameTag into its smart glasses. Notably, that memo suggested launching the feature 'during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.' This prior reporting complicates Meta's current insistence that NameTag is simply an 'exploratory' concept.
Source: Yahoo Tech ↗
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