Privacy: Meta probably wants to build facial recognition into smart glasses

Meta is apparently working on two new models of smart glasses with enhanced artificial intelligence (AI) functions. This is reported by The Information magazine. The smart glasses, codenamed Aperol and Bellini, are said to have biometric facial recognition on board. The glasses could, for example, display the names of people in the vicinity that the meta-AI has automatically recognized. However, options for taking inconspicuous pictures of people and potentially identifying them have raised considerable data protection concerns about smart glasses for years. Critics fear that such technologies could be misused to monitor people without their knowledge or consent.

To date, Meta has repeatedly emphasized that the privacy of users and the people around them is important. At present, the smart glasses offered by the US company do not have a directly integrated facial recognition function. This means that the glasses do not actively analyze the faces of the people wearing them in order to identify them.

The smart glasses from Ray-Ban and Meta have a small LED lamp that lights up when a picture is taken. This is intended to serve as a warning to third parties. Meta also gives users control over their data in a special view app. However, this measure is not considered sufficient by critics, as the LED can be difficult to see in certain situations.

Harvard students made facial recognition possible

However, in late fall, Harvard students gave a demo in which they used the glasses' camera in combination with external software and AI to identify people in real time. They developed a tool called I-XRAY for this purpose. This captures the image of a person and runs it through the easily accessible facial recognition service PimEyes, which has been controversial for years. In a further step, the solution obtained additional information about the person concerned from the internet, including their home address and telephone number. This test alone highlighted the potential privacy risks of such technologies.

A Meta spokesperson emphasized to 404 Media magazine at the time that PimEyes' technology could be linked to any camera. The students streamed live from the glasses on Instagram and then monitored these live recordings using the facial recognition program. The spokesperson did not want to comment specifically on the new report about a separate relevant function. The objection raised a few months ago against the alleged uniqueness of Meta glasses in this area remains.

Even more advanced AI functions planned

Ever since the launch of Ray-Ban glasses, there have been concerns that buyers would soon be using them in public and private spaces to photograph or film their surroundings and ultimately spy on them. Meta initially only launched the computer glasses on the market in Australia, the USA, Canada, Ireland, Italy and the UK. They have only recently become available in Germany and other EU countries such as Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

With Aperol and Bellini, the Group is also reportedly planning to further expand live AI functions. The technology could then recognize, for example, whether users leave their home without having taken the key with them. It remains to be seen how potential facial recognition in particular will fit in with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the AI Act.

(nie)