Meta removes face recognition code from its Meta AI app

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.

What happened

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.

Why it matters

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