EPIC Joins Coalition Call to Halt Meta’s Plans for Facial Recognition ‘Smart’ Glasses 

On Tuesday, EPIC joined 63 other civil society organizations in a letter vehemently opposing plans to integrate facial recognition into Meta glasses. The coalition letter, organized by Consumer Federation of America, was sent to Meta, EssorLuxottica (Ray-Ban’s parent company), the White House, the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice, several state attorneys general, and the leaders of key congressional committees.

The letter is just EPIC’s latest step to respond to the New York Times’s reporting in February that Meta plans to embed facial recognition technology into its smart glasses, potentially as soon as this year. Immediately after the plans were leaked, EPIC sent letters to the FTC and state attorneys general in the Consortium of Privacy Regulators, urging them to investigate Meta’s plans and stop the company from putting them into action. Senators Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, and Ron Wyden later wrote to Meta demanding information on the company’s plans. 

As this week’s coalition letter observes, “Integrating facial recognition into Meta glasses is a dangerous and reckless plan that will harm both users and the entire public, regardless of whether they use Meta products, whether they consent, whether they are a public figure or layperson, and whether they even know about it.” 

Meta has a long history of privacy abuses, and even without facial recognition its Meta glasses intrude on Americans’ privacy by allowing wearers to covertly record everyone they come into contact with. Incorporating real-time facial recognition into these glasses would be a major escalation, however. EPIC hopes that these coalition efforts, including Tuesday’s letter, will persuade Meta to change course and spur regulators to action.