Meta's Distracted World: Facial Recognition and Ray-Bans Ignored

Meta's Smart Glasses and the Potential Addition of Facial Recognition

Meta, the tech giant behind Facebook and Instagram, is reportedly considering adding facial recognition capabilities to its smart glasses. This development has sparked discussions about privacy, technology, and the current state of public attention.

Why Now?

According to internal documents, Meta believes that the timing is favorable for introducing such a feature. The company suggests that people are currently distracted by various global events, making it less likely that the addition of facial recognition will generate significant backlash.

This idea was mentioned in an internal memo, which highlighted the political climate in the United States as an opportunity. The memo stated that during a period of political turmoil, civil society groups might be too occupied with other issues to focus on Meta’s new feature.

What We Know About the Smart Glasses

Since their launch in 2021, the Meta Ray-Ban Smart Glasses have been a commercial success. According to EssilorLuxottica, the parent company of Ray-Ban, sales tripled in 2025, and they are struggling to meet demand.

However, there has always been concern about the potential misuse of these glasses. In 2024, some Harvard students demonstrated how the glasses could be modified to perform facial recognition by sending camera photos to a third-party service for scanning. At the time, Meta emphasized that the glasses themselves were not designed for this purpose.

Legal and Privacy Concerns

So far, legal and privacy concerns have prevented the implementation of facial recognition on the glasses. However, Meta is now exploring the possibility of introducing the feature, citing a more favorable environment for such a move.

Erin Logan, a Meta spokesperson, stated that the company is still evaluating options and will take a thoughtful approach before rolling out any features. “While we frequently hear about the interest in this type of feature — and some products already exist in the market — we're still thinking through options and will take a thoughtful approach if and before we roll anything out,” she said.

Possible Distractions

The internal memo also suggested that Meta is counting on other major issues to keep the public from focusing on the facial recognition feature. Some of these distractions include:

• The ongoing threat of AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) potentially destroying humanity
• Meta's legal battles over whether Instagram was designed to be addictive to teens
• The potential for home security cameras to create a dragnet for law enforcement
• The controversial incident involving Clavicular being frame-mogged by an ASU frat leader
• The wait for a sequel to "K-Pop Demon Hunters" and the pressure from first graders worldwide to release it sooner
• Instagram posts that still won't unfurl in Slack, creating an ongoing national nightmare for gossipy office workers
• Local political battles over data centers, including one larger than Manhattan that Meta hopes to build to fuel its AI needs
• OpenAI killing its 4o model, causing widespread grief from people who had developed an affinity for their chatbots.
• Elon Musk's new plans to build a self-growing city on the moon

Conclusion

As Meta continues to explore the possibility of adding facial recognition to its smart glasses, the company must navigate a complex landscape of legal, ethical, and public concerns. While the timing may seem favorable, the long-term implications of such a feature remain uncertain.