355
Audio & Video Production344
Automation & Workflow224
Software Development250
Marketing & Growth192
AI Infrastructure & MLOps174
Writing & Content Creation203
Data & Analytics140
Design & Creative169
Customer Support131
Photography & Imaging156
Sales & Outreach125
Voice & Speech135
Operations & Admin87
Education & Learning131
Wired found Meta removed face recognition-related code from the Meta AI app used with its smart glasses, after reporting the code was on millions of phones.
In short: Meta removed face recognition-related code from the latest version of its Meta AI app, one day after WIRED reported the code was present but not turned on.
WIRED reported that Meta had quietly included parts of an unreleased face recognition system inside the Meta AI app, which is used as a companion app for Meta’s smart glasses. According to WIRED, the app was installed on more than 50 million phones.
Face recognition is software that tries to identify a person by analyzing their face. WIRED said the system, which Meta internally called NameTag, was designed to turn faces captured by the glasses into a unique “faceprint” (like a fingerprint, but for your face) and compare it against a database stored on the user’s phone.
After that report, WIRED analyzed the newest version of the Meta AI app and found the face recognition components were removed. Code libraries labeled for face recognition were no longer present. WIRED also said the update removed an alert that would have said “Person recognized,” plus a folder where the app could have stored cropped images and faceprints of people it did not recognize.
Meta previously pushed back on WIRED’s reporting. A Meta communications executive wrote that the company could not answer questions about how the system would work because “the feature does not exist.” Meta did not explain why the code was removed or whether it plans to bring it back.
Even if a feature is not switched on, shipping the underlying code can raise privacy concerns, especially when it involves biometric data like faceprints. Privacy advocates warn that tools like this could be misused to identify strangers in public.
Source: Wired