75 Groups Demand Meta Drop Facial Recognition for Smart Glasses

A coalition of more than 75 civil rights, privacy, and advocacy organizations has issued an open letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg demanding the company permanently abandon a planned facial recognition feature for its Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta smart glasses, warning the technology poses irreversible risks to public safety and civil liberties.

The letter, released April 13, 2026, was led by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Massachusetts, and the New York Civil Liberties Union, and co-signed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Fight for the Future, Access Now, and dozens of organizations representing domestic violence survivors, worker rights advocates, LGBTQ+ communities, immigrants, and consumer privacy groups. The campaign is titled “Eyewear, Not Spyware.”

The coalition’s letter targets a feature internally referred to at Meta as “Name Tag,” which would use AI to identify people in a wearer’s field of view and surface their name, social media profiles, and related personal data in real time. Two versions were reportedly under consideration: one limited to identifying people connected to a wearer on Meta’s platforms, and a broader version capable of identifying any person with a public social media account. The coalition stated the technology “cannot be resolved through product design changes, opt-out mechanisms or incremental safeguards,” characterizing it as inherently incompatible with privacy.

Coalition members described specific harms in direct terms. Kade Crockford of the ACLU of Massachusetts stated: “Stalkers and scammers would have a field day with this technology.” Cody Venzke of the ACLU said: “Your glasses should not know my name. This is an inherently invasive and unethical technology.” Daniel Schwarz of the New York Civil Liberties Union added: “Nobody wants to live in a world where strangers can secretly identify them, learn about their activities and interests, record their interactions, and track who they meet or how they exercise their free speech rights.”

A Meta spokesperson responded: “Our competitors offer this type of facial recognition product, we do not. If we were to release such a feature, we would take a very thoughtful approach before rolling anything out.” The coalition dismissed this framing as insufficient, calling for permanent abandonment of the feature.

The letter follows Senate demands on Meta’s smart glasses facial recognition filed by Senators Markey, Wyden, and Merkley in March 2026, and EPIC’s FTC complaint over Meta’s “Name Tag” feature filed in February 2026. The controversy traces back to reports of Meta developing smart glasses facial recognition that first surfaced in August 2025. The coalition’s letter also noted that Meta’s own internal memo reportedly suggested launching the feature during a period of political upheaval when civil society groups would be distracted by other concerns.

Sources: ACLU, ACLU of Massachusetts, EPIC

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By the ID Tech Editorial Team