Privacy: Civil rights warn against facial recognition in Meta Smart Glasses

The plans of the US company Meta to equip its smart glasses with facial recognition represent an unacceptable threat to privacy and freedom and are “a red line that society must not cross.” This is warned by a broad alliance of organizations led by the US civil liberties organization American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in an open letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

The letter was signed by 75 non-governmental organizations of various stripes. In the letter, they call on Meta to immediately stop its plans to equip its intelligent glasses with facial recognition and to publicly distance itself from them. “Glasses with facial recognition technology would enable any wearer to identify strangers in their vicinity – for example at protests, in doctors' offices or shops – by name. This name could then be linked to digital databases containing a wealth of sensitive information about the target person's profession, habits, health, and relationships,” it says in a press release issued by the ACLU on Monday issued by the ACLU.

The US population has not consented to such a massive violation of privacy, according to Kade Crockford, Director of Technology and Justice Programs at the ACLU of Massachusetts. “Stalkers and fraudsters would have an easy time with this technology,” he warns. “Federal officials could use it to harass and intimidate critics. It is dangerous and dystopian, and Meta must distance itself from it.”

Minorities particularly at risk

The signatories of the open letter see particularly vulnerable population groups, including people of color, women, children, immigrants, religious minorities, and members of the LGBTQ+ community, as being endangered through facial recognition technology. By lifting the expectation of privacy and anonymity in public, Meta's glasses restrict freedom of expression for everyone, they fear. “Preventing this development is not just a matter of data protection. It is a fundamental prerequisite for a free and safe society,” the letter states.

Cody Venzke, Senior Attorney at the ACLU, speaks of a “deeply invasive and unethical technology.” The dangers are not hypothetical but very real, as the use of facial recognition in other areas has shown. “Integrating this technology into glasses would significantly increase the risks for individuals, families, and our democracy itself,” Venzke said.

The open letter to Zuckerberg follows media reports, according to which Meta intends to introduce facial recognition for its millions of best-selling smart glasses later this year. The function is internally called “Name Tag” and is intended to enable wearers to identify people in their vicinity, it was said. At the end of March, Meta also announced new models and AI functions. In parallel with the open letter, the ACLU called on consumers to contact Meta in writing and express their concerns about facial recognition technology.

(akn)