Markey, Wyden, Merkley Demand Transparency from Meta on Facial Recognition Technology in Smart Glasses

Urge transparency from Meta on its plan to integrate technology as Americans' concerns over mass surveillance heighten

Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (March 17, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) today wrote to Chairman and CEO of Meta Mark Zuckerberg demanding transparency on the company's plans to integrate facial recognition into its smart glasses. Although facial recognition may offer real benefits for blind and visually impaired users, Meta's history of failing to protect user privacy raises serious questions about its plan to deploy this technology in its smart glasses. Smart glasses - often indistinguishable from regular glasses - are designed to be worn throughout the day as its user passes hundreds, if not thousands, of people. In a single day, the user could scan thousands of faces, with no practical way for a bystander to consent or even know about such real-time identification.

Despite abandoning facial recognition technology across its platforms in 2021 over ethical concerns, Meta is reportedly yet again working to deploy this privacy-invasive technology. An internal memo revealed Meta intends to release this technology during the current dynamic political environment to avoid public scrutiny.

In the letter, the senators wrote, "Despite Meta's desire to minimize public attention on this product, the deployment of smart glasses equipped with facial recognition technology threatens Americans' privacy rights and civil liberties, and therefore warrants close scrutiny....The widespread deployment of facial-recognition-enabled smart glasses also risks accelerating the normalization of mass surveillance in the United States. Federal agencies are already using facial recognition tools to identify individuals engaged in lawful protest activity and potentially to assemble databases of those exercising their First Amendment rights. This abuse of facial recognition tools demonstrates how easily real-time identification technologies can be repurposed to discourage political expression, target vulnerable communities, and chill lawful dissent. Embedding facial recognition into consumer wearables would vastly expand this surveillance infrastructure, enabling continuous, decentralized identification of members of the public without their knowledge or consent. The deployment of facial recognition technology in smart glasses risks entrenching a system in which Americans are routinely scanned, catalogued, and analyzed as they move through daily life - an outcome fundamentally incompatible with a democracy."

The lawmakers requested answers by April 6, 2026, to questions that include:

• Can individuals-both device owners and people whose images the glasses capture-request deletion of their biometric data? If so, how does Meta ensure timely and complete deletion?
• Does Meta use biometric data collected through its smart glasses to train machine learning models or improve facial recognition algorithms? If so, how does Meta inform individuals and provide an opportunity to opt out?
• Has Meta conducted any internal privacy impact assessments or commissioned third-party audits of its biometric data practices related to smart glasses facial recognition?
• Does Meta plan to allow users to upload images of known individuals - such as friends, family members, coworkers, or public figures - to create a personalized database for facial recognition matching?
• Has Meta evaluated the civil liberties risks associated with linking real-time facial recognition to its social media platforms, including the potential for stalking, harassment, doxxing, or government misuse?
• Does Meta intend to share biometric data - or any outputs generated by facial recognition features in its smart glasses - with federal, state, or local law-enforcement agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security?

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