Ray-Ban: Put a Stop to Facial Recognition In Meta Glasses

The petition to Meta Smart Glasses stakeholders Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio (Chief Strategy Officer at EssilorLuxottica, owner of Ray-Ban), Francesco Milleri (Chairman and CEO of EssilorLuxottica), and A$AP Rocky (Creative Director at Ray-Ban) reads:

As a group of women and allies, we are terrified by Meta’s plan to add facial recognition technology to its smart glasses, which are made with EssilorLuxottica-owned glasses brands Ray-Ban and Oakley. The negative privacy implications are staggering, particularly for women, children, and gender-expansive people. From abusers using the glasses as a tool to identify and stalk victims, to ex partners using the glasses to capture sexual acts that could be used for revenge porn, to adversaries using the glasses to track someone’s personal healthcare activities, we are horrified by the many ways in which facial recognition integrated with Meta glasses would jeopardize our safety. Unequivocally, we believe any potential benefits are significantly outweighed by the risks to women and children, particularly given that researchers have demonstrated how easily facial recognition technology in the glasses could be hacked using third-party facial recognition software to identify anybody, including children. We do not want facial recognition technology in Meta glasses, and it is incumbent on EssilorLuxottica and Ray-Ban leadership to put a stop to it.

According to an internal memo, Meta is planning to add facial recognition technology to its "smart" glasses. The implications for women, gender-expansive people, and children are horrifying.

Picture this: you’re headed into a doctor’s appointment. Let’s say it’s at a gynecologist’s office. As you’re walking in, someone with dark glasses on walks by and says hello, staring at you. Something feels off. That’s because it is--they’re recording you, and in the time it took to say hi, they already have your name, home address, personal phone number--and where you went for your appointment. And now, Meta knows all of that, too.

We think a world where that scenario can easily play out is a terrifying one--one we don’t want to live in. That’s why we’re fighting back. Because we don’t have faith in Meta to do the right thing, we’re calling on two key Meta Smart Glasses stakeholders, eyewear brand Ray-Ban and French eyewear company EssilorLuxottica (owner of Ray-Ban), to put a stop to this terrifying development.