Facebook-parent Meta wants to bring back technology it shut down 5 years ago

Five years after shutting down its facial recognition system on Facebook over privacy fears, Meta is preparing for a comeback, a report has said. The tech giant is said to be working to bring the technology back with a change – this time embedding it directly into the lenses of its popular Ray-Ban smart glasses. According to a report by The New York Times, the feature is internally dubbed “Name Tag”, and it will allow glasses wearers to look at a person and instantly identify them. Moreover, they can also pull up information through Meta’s built-in AI assistant, the report noted, citing four people involved with the plans.

The report, however, says that Meta’s plans may change. Citing an internal document, the company has been in talks how to release a feature that carries “safety and privacy risks”.