Meta Is Testing Police Surveillance Tech for Its Smart Glasses

Meta is collaborating with Rank One Computing, a company that supplies facial recognition technology to U.S. government agencies like the U.S. Marshals Service and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, to develop features for its upcoming smart glasses. According to documents reviewed by Wired, the contract allows Meta to integrate Rank One’s facial recognition software and liveness detection, which verifies whether a captured image is of a live person rather than a photo or mask. Rank One’s technology has been used for surveillance purposes, including a tool capable of identifying faces from a distance of up to 1 kilometer, developed for the U.S. Special Operations Command. Wired’s analysis of Meta’s AI app revealed traces of Rank One’s code within the dormant NameTag facial recognition feature, suggesting Meta has already experimented with the technology. Meta has not disclosed details about its partnership with Rank One or its plans for facial recognition in smart glasses, but security researchers have noted that dormant code in the Meta AI app indicates the feature could be nearly ready for release. The integration of surveillance-grade technology into consumer wearables has sparked criticism from civil rights groups and U.S. lawmakers, who warn of potential privacy abuses. Critics argue that Meta’s use of Rank One’s technology undermines efforts to reassure the public that smart glasses will not be repurposed for surveillance. The company’s past secrecy—including the abrupt removal of facial recognition from its smart glasses—has further fueled skepticism about its intentions. The development raises broader questions about the ethical implications of blending military-grade surveillance tools with everyday consumer devices.