Meta’s AI Glasses Face-Recognition Feature Generates Conflicting Corporate Statements

In June, a Wired investigation uncovered code in Meta’s “AI Glasses” that would enable a facial-recognition capability internally named NameTag. The feature, which remained unreleased to consumers, was designed to create local biometric “faceprints” from people the wearer encountered and compare them with signatures stored on the user’s phone. Shortly after the report, Meta executives alternately denied and later described the feature, prompting a public dispute over its existence and privacy implications.

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Wired’s analysis showed that updates to the glasses’ AI app added discreet code that could identify individuals captured by the camera and, when activated, alert the wearer. Meta marketed the glasses as “designed for privacy, controlled by you,” yet separate investigations by Swedish newspapers alleged that recordings from the glasses were sent to human data labelers, contradicting the company’s assurances.

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Meta spokesperson Andy Stone, VP of communications, labeled Wired’s coverage “intellectually dishonest” and “advocacy-driven click bait,” asserting that the feature “doesn’t exist.” Chief technology officer Andrew “Boz” Bosworth initially called the reporting “incredibly misleading” and “absolutely dishonest,” but later detailed NameTag in an interview with *The Atlantic* CEO Nick Thompson, emphasizing that data would be encrypted locally and not stored in a centralized database. Stone later clarified that Meta had been “exploring such features, even as nothing has shipped to consumers.”

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Privacy advocates highlighted the similarity between NameTag and facial-recognition tools used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, raising concerns about potential misuse. Bosworth acknowledged that deploying such technology could be illegal in states like Illinois and Texas and stressed the need for user comfort. The company also faces a consumer-harm lawsuit stemming from the Swedish investigations into data-labeling practices.

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• “intellectually dishonest” and “advocacy-driven click bait.” — Andy Stone, Meta VP of Communications

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• “How could we? The feature doesn’t exist!” — Andy Stone, Meta VP of Communications

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• “Incredibly misleading from Wired,” — Andrew Bosworth, Meta CTO

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• “This is a person you’ve met before. Here’s their name. They’re right in front of you. That’s… what we call a NameTags feature,” — Andrew Bosworth, Meta CTO

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• “has to be done in a way that people feel comfortable.” — Andrew Bosworth, Meta CTO

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