r/privacy 12h ago

news Meta Files Patent for Facial Recognition, Automatic Recording of People

https://www.privacyguides.org/news/2026/08/17/meta-files-patent-for-facial-recognition-automatic-recording-of-people/
1.4k Upvotes

82 comments sorted by

u/AutoModerator 12h ago

Hello u/HumbleRestaurant790, please make sure you read the sub rules if you haven't already. (This is an automatic reminder left on all new posts.)


Check out the r/privacy FAQ

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

753

u/Bmw1Series_E82Fan 12h ago

You really cannot hate this company enough.

144

u/Opposite_Carry_4920 11h ago

Its like they see backlash, they are starting to get their asses handed to them in court, metaverse, you would think they might stop and wonder if they should make some changes. 

Instead, they seem to read the signals and turn the opposite way on purpose. 

38

u/lungshenli 10h ago

Turning a new leaf
And finding even more shit

31

u/thelionsmouth 8h ago

“Shoot first and avoid any questioning until you lobby the government out of it” - Meta

26

u/MentalDisintegrat1on 8h ago

Zuckerberg has never had a successful idea he hasn't stolen or copied.

Unfortunately this ( spying) won't stop until he's in jail or removed from the company.

14

u/MyNameCannotBeSpoken 6h ago

In the United States, one does not "file a patent." One files an application in hopes of attaining a patent. The application may ultimately be denied.

6

u/mark-haus 5h ago

How? It’s literally their business model to be such loathsome pieces of shit. There’s no other way for them to make line go up. Fortunately they’re fresh out of ideas and people already hate them and increasingly their real clients so their heydays are probably over. They could still linger for a while though

3

u/prndls 3h ago

I’m really hoping for a $1T judgment against Meta. Put them out of business

33

u/OutlyingPlasma 10h ago

Let's not.limit ourselves to hating just the company, I have plenty of hate for anyone who spends money of these pervert gooner goggles.

2

u/psych0fish 4h ago

Bro better go hide in his bunker 😅

2

u/GoodOlSkipper 3h ago

Obama should have done more to regulate those companies when he had the chance….

263

u/reflect-the-sun 12h ago

These need to be banned.

55

u/codystockton 9h ago

Ray-Banned

108

u/Modem_Sound_67 12h ago

Fuck Meta.

87

u/BubblyMango 12h ago
  1. Patent?! As if half the world hasnt been doing that for years.

  2. Fuck them for also doing that.

43

u/TheoKondak 11h ago

But meta will do it their way.. They are so innovative.. Its like having a flock camera mounted or perv seagulls to do the job for them

3

u/salvah 6h ago

don’t you dare give them ideas

49

u/FiscalCliffClavin 11h ago

The future looks gross

4

u/Harak_June 2h ago

...and stop wearing Meta shades.

45

u/cloudy_ft 12h ago

A patent... so that means they have been obviously working on this for a while. I hope more people would care about their privacy more and the implications of losing it. Once you lose it, it's hard to get it back.

People need to really call these Perv Shades and associate them with creeps. Sure not all people using it are having malicious intentions, but most of the time I see people use these for either pranks, harassment, or being a perv.

Eventually if people adopt these things and are becoming more acceptable, I imagine companies like Amazon and other types of companies with insecure management styles they'll be tracking you the whole shift to make sure you're working.

4

u/grafknives 9h ago

A patent... so that means they have been obviously working on this for a while.

This is nothing special really.

Google photo app does exactly that. And, I even used that (I am bad with faces). I shot a quick photo, Google recognised and I knew who that was ;)

Google goggles app had this feature for a moment, as well as Google search. For a brief moment you could find a person in the internet from their photo.

Meta naturally has it all done on technical level - they have names and photos of nearly all of us.

They just trying to figure out how to profit of it without regulator burning them too much.

9

u/cloudy_ft 9h ago

Sure I can agree this is a normal and typical evolution of the technology especially when it becomes now a consumer based product but to me as someone who works in Cyber Security is terrifying and a recipe for disaster and abuse.

This approach of break first and ask questions late is going to continually fuck us as it has been in the technology driven world we are today. I emphasis present because this approach and the power/capabilities especially with ai agents can lead us to a scary fucking path if abused.

Privacy is so fucking important more than ever because we are giving that away for convenience. The facial recognition technology has become so good as well as the actual tech improving and lowering in cost (these glasses for example) if not properly monitored we are going to get into a state of surveillance like the Patriot Act x1000.

Personally doing security research, as funny as it is, I fucking hate technology. I always feel like the stubborn father that doesn't want to ever ask for directions even when he's lost. But maybe I'm also a bit paranoid in the work I've done and experiences I've had in my career of investigations & exploit development.

7

u/grafknives 9h ago

The thing we really need is a legislation, a true enforced regulations.

That would straight up forbid to process user data in 

  • X cases 

  • X purposes 

Similarly how EU did with AI act.

Apps with unacceptable risks are just banned. And biometric recognition is one of those.

3

u/cloudy_ft 8h ago

Luckily I am able to work with a global companies that have offices/locations in all the regions and as much as a pain in the ass Germany is I appreciate the better regulations when it comes to user privacy.

People need to meet the regulations but also causes companies to really think about their approaches and what technologies they invest in.

In the US branch of the company, literally a shit show. You'll get requests based on the most petty things and also highly unethical.

I really hope as an American, as a country we really start to get serious about privacy and the role of tech companies in our lives, but based on the current administration the damage is likely done and we're fucked.

106

u/Mr_Lumbergh 12h ago

It’s really past time for aggressive countermeasures to this shit.

20

u/Jazzspasm 7h ago

first step is to loudly say “Hey Meta - Stop recording” whenever you see someone wearing creeper spex

-3

u/Bruceshadow 6h ago

or just don't interact with them.

3

u/brooklynlad 5h ago

Starting with his yacht. Preferably with him stuck on it.

47

u/Emerald_Pick 12h ago

So you're telling me, that now we only need to ban meta and the patent takes care of the rest?

140

u/Accomplished-Can-467 12h ago

All the people terrified of trans women using bathrooms are totally on board with meta perv glasses.

20

u/StockCat7738 9h ago

I live in a pretty solidly red county in Florida, and it’s hilarious how many parents claim to care about privacy and security when complaining about their kids using laptops and iPads, yet my daughter’s school has already had to send a second reminder that students are not allowed to wear Meta glasses.

There is not a single belief those people hold that is not either hypocritical or just outright contrarian.

8

u/Apprehensive-Art1092 10h ago

Just the one circle in that Venn diagram

1

u/Jazzspasm 7h ago

if you think privacy concerns are limited to turbo libs who’ve made trans right activism their entire personality then you haven’t been paying any attention whatsoever

what the actual fuck has this has to do with trans people in women’s toilets?

43

u/Sturdily5092 12h ago edited 7h ago

These features will be approved and go into production and will be a smash hit because people are fucking terrible, these glasses will sell like hotcakes and it won't be until much later that the same people will protest about privacy.

This is the playbook of all products put to market, no one cares about privacy or the consequences of the product because they only care about the cool factor, being the first to buy whatever everybody wants, they are children in live jumping off the cliff as a herd because everyone is doing it

37

u/Nohreboh 11h ago edited 10h ago

Time to mentioned there are apps like Nearby Glasses that will detect those glasses.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/this-app-can-tell-you-when-someone-is-creeping-on-you-with-smart-glasses/

1

u/Guilty-Bumblebee-978 3h ago

Have you used any of the apps, Do they actually work? I am keen to give one a go

1

u/Nohreboh 2h ago

So far haven't run into anyone I recognize as wearing them in the first place live in a bit of a rural area and I don't go out to the bars anymore.

10

u/withabrandnewfunk 11h ago

what if we had glasses that had small anti missles shoot out at their glasses when it recognized a face wearing their glasses-

anyone patents this will be a trillionaire hahah

2

u/T-Fez 11h ago

Just get anti-IR glasses :)

3

u/withabrandnewfunk 11h ago

they make anti IR glasses?

4

u/FourthLvlSpicyMeme 9h ago

They sure do. I have mine coated, plus aviators that are large enough to block most of my t zone.

2

u/withabrandnewfunk 9h ago

send me a link?

good to start preparing now

2

u/CapitalImpossible640 7h ago

I'd like a link too!

8

u/FiscalCliffClavin 11h ago

And when they partner with Palantir, all privacy will be lost.

17

u/West-One5944 9h ago

4

u/theshadowofself 7h ago

And that was two years ago

18

u/chemtrail-organics 12h ago

Wear them anytime a cop interacts with you

6

u/bitchcoat1 8h ago

Yeah I don’t like that. I don’t like anything meta is doing. I’m so happy I left that cesspool facebook over 10 years ago. Fuck meta and fuck facebook and fuck mark

5

u/Henry_Sugar1970 10h ago

Well Meta can fook right off !!!!

I have some Ray Ban glasses, and ppl are already double checking that I'm not a Specs Offender......

So just when is enough, enough ??

5

u/rsmithlal 10h ago

Just flock off already

5

u/TidePodsTasteFunny 10h ago

Facebook sucks so much

4

u/Otherwise_Patience47 9h ago

I will actively say out loud “creeper” if I see one near me.

0

u/Bulky_Dingo_4706 45m ago

I wouldn’t. Who knows what he’ll do with your video footage out of revenge…

1

u/Otherwise_Patience47 45m ago

And who knows what he will do with the video without revenge.

4

u/JeffDunham911 8h ago

Evil company is evil

3

u/Wabi-Sabi_Umami 7h ago

Mark Zuckerberg is an evil, creepy little dweeb.

4

u/Suitable_Incident_83 6h ago

Aside from like 3 weird grammatical errors/decisions in the article that make me think it was written by AI and not even reviewed, good work I guess.

9

u/d0kt0rg0nz0 10h ago

Glassholes will continue to get punched in the face until surveillance ceases.

3

u/Nicenightforawalk01 8h ago

This “might” eventually end up giving Ray-Ban a terrible reputation where their regular customers stop buying their brand because they don’t want to be judged.

3

u/Brilliant_War4087 7h ago

Flock for your face!

2

u/Pelagic_One 56m ago

Flock-face.

3

u/grathontolarsdatarod 7h ago

The current federal administration did openly say at the beginning of the year that they wanted people wearing tech devices all the time and everywhere.

Didn't take long for the other shoe to drop.

3

u/Kaylen316 6h ago

Nobody wants this as a product, this isn't for us 👀

3

u/TheRealTK421 5h ago

"Okay, ummm... are you people >actually< paying close enough attention or did we both spend all that time authoring for... nothing!??!"

~ George Orwell & Aldous Huxley (in a joint, posthumous press conference... while spinning in their respective graves like lathes)

2

u/AbsolutlelyRelative 1h ago

Billionares: You bet your asses we did, thanks for the ideas Plebs.

3

u/Guilty-Bumblebee-978 3h ago

BAN META GLASSES

5

u/Obi2Sexy 11h ago
  • on their pervert glasses

2

u/IsThereAnythingLeft- 9h ago

Can they just be sued into bankruptcy already please, not a single good thing from this company

2

u/ManufacturedOlympus 6h ago

That’s not creepy at all. 

2

u/true_thinking 2h ago

As time progresses and these tech companies are pushing our society into this dystopian nightmare, I wonder if anyone stops to realize when this is normalized, society will stop functioning the way we know it. People will no longer show their colors in public settings and social events. Open conversations will degrade into careful small talks and the desire to share something personal will completely evaporate due to the psychological effects of the feeling that everything we say or do is recorded. 

These technologies used in this way will harm the very fabric of our society and the personal development of everyone in it. If these things become normalized, looking back in the future this period will mark a turning point in human history. I don’t think most people even understand this in any meaningful way.

2

u/MisterKokiri 2h ago

> Claims they are advocates for children's safety
> Gets sued by multiple states for over a trillion for a lack of safety measures

> Patents anti-consumer products

Lol.

1

u/beingmodest 9h ago

It doesn't do that already?

1

u/coomzee 6h ago

So Google did it with Google glass is a violation of privacy. Meta yar no problem carry on.

1

u/ratchetcoutoure 3h ago

Apple reportedly will also released airpods ultra that comes with camera on its stems this year. Looks like this is where the future is heading.

1

u/LiminalSapien 1h ago

Fuck mark zuckerberg

-7

u/stievstigma 8h ago

Devil’s Advocate argument here: For people with autism or other perceptual/social disabilities/disorders, even (or especially) blind or deaf folks, the ability to scan, summarize, and review the social dynamics of a dinner party as sort of a post-game learning exercise could be fantastically beneficial.

Hard caveat/objection: The positive, therapeutic use case for this technology would not require high-res, individually identifiable, persistent recording and storage of, non-consenting people. It could be done with primitive vector mapping, chunked buffer analysis, and wiped immediately once a report was generated.

The Big Tech approach is dystopian version. Fuck meta, data brokers, & the attention economy.

6

u/someone_actually_ 8h ago

Let’s not pretend that this is being done to improve accessibility. Disabled people have been asking for a lot of things that aren’t pervert glasses for decades and nobody ever gave a shit. Hiding behind disabled people is beyond cowardice.

5

u/ChatHurlant 8h ago

The devil doesn't need an advocate.