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

Senators: "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."

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley (both D-Ore.) today demanded transparency from Meta on the company's plans to integrate facial recognition into its smart glasses.

Smart glasses are designed to be worn throughout the day as their user passes hundreds, if not thousands, of people whose faces could be scanned without any practical way for a bystander to consent to or even know about this real-time identification. While 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.

"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," wrote Wyden and Merkley along with U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) to Meta Chair and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. "The widespread deployment of facial-recognition-enabled smart glasses also risks accelerating the normalization of mass surveillance in the United States,"

Despite abandoning facial recognition technology across its platforms in 2021 over ethical concerns, an internal memo revealed Meta intends to release this technology and hopes that the current chaotic political environment will help Meta avoid public scrutiny.

"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," concluded the senators.

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

1. 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?
2. 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?
3. Has Meta conducted any internal privacy impact assessments or commissioned third-party audits of its biometric data practices related to smart glasses facial recognition?
4. 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?
5. 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?
6. 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?

The text of the letter is here.

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