Meta Plans Facial Recognition for Smart Glasses

Company aims to add 'Name Tag' feature to identify wearers' contacts and public figures

Published on Feb. 13, 2026

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Meta, the parent company of Facebook, plans to add facial recognition technology to its smart glasses as soon as this year. The feature, internally called 'Name Tag,' would let wearers identify people and get information about them via Meta's AI assistant. Meta has been weighing the 'safety and privacy risks' of the feature, according to an internal document, and considered first releasing it to attendees of a conference for the blind before making it available to the general public.

Why it matters

Facial recognition technology has long raised concerns about privacy, civil liberties, and potential abuse by governments, corporations, and bad actors. Some cities and states have restricted or banned its use by law enforcement over accuracy issues. Meta's plans to integrate facial recognition into consumer smart glasses could further expand the reach of this controversial technology.

The details

Meta plans to add the 'Name Tag' facial recognition feature to its smart glasses, which it makes with Ray-Ban and Oakley owner EssilorLuxottica. The feature would let wearers identify people and get information about them through Meta's AI assistant. Meta has been weighing the 'safety and privacy risks' of the feature and considered first releasing it to attendees of a conference for the blind before making it available more broadly. An internal memo suggested the political tumult in the US was good timing for the feature's release, as it would distract critics.

  • In 2021, Meta considered adding facial recognition to the first version of its Ray-Ban smart glasses but pulled back over technical challenges and ethical concerns.
  • In 2024, two Harvard students used Ray-Ban Metas with a commercial facial recognition tool to identify strangers on the subway in Boston and released a viral video about it.
  • In January 2025, Meta relaxed its process for reviewing privacy risks of new products, leading some employees to question whether the company would still be in compliance with a 2019 FTC settlement.

The players

Meta

The parent company of Facebook, which makes the Ray-Ban smart glasses and is planning to add facial recognition technology called 'Name Tag' to the devices.

Mark Zuckerberg

The chief executive of Meta, who wants to add facial recognition to the smart glasses to differentiate the devices and make the AI assistant more useful.

EssilorLuxottica

The owner of Ray-Ban and Oakley, which works with Meta to make the smart glasses.

Andie Millan

A director of risk review in Meta's Reality Labs division, who told employees that the company's relaxed privacy review process would 'push the bounds' of its FTC settlement.

Nathan Freed Wessler

An attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, who said facial recognition technology 'poses a uniquely dire threat to the practical anonymity we all rely on.'

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What they’re saying

“It is so important and powerful for this group of humans.”

— Mike Buckley, Chief Executive, Be My Eyes (The New York Times)

What’s next

Meta is exploring who should be recognizable through the facial recognition technology, including people a user is connected to on Meta platforms or those with public accounts on sites like Instagram. The company is also working on 'super sensing' glasses that would continually run cameras and sensors to keep a record of someone's day.

The takeaway

Meta's plan to add facial recognition to its smart glasses raises significant privacy and civil liberties concerns, especially given the company's history of privacy missteps. The feature could further expand the reach of this controversial technology, which has faced growing restrictions and bans in some areas due to accuracy issues and potential for abuse.