Meta has been testing facial recognition software from Rank One Computing, a company that supplies surveillance tools to the U.S. military and police, for its smart glasses, according to a WIRED investigation.
The tech giant licensed a test version of Meta AI, the app that powers its Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses, from Rank One. This Denver-based company reportedly earns about 80 percent of its revenue from government clients. Rank One's technology has been used by agencies like the U.S. Marshals Service for prisoner identification and by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The company even developed long-range facial recognition for U.S. Special Operations Command, capable of identifying faces from up to a kilometer away.
This licensing agreement marks the first known link between Meta and Rank One, shedding light on the sophisticated technology Meta is considering for consumer devices. It highlights a growing trend where the same companies and algorithms serve both law enforcement and the general public.
The license allowed Meta to use Rank One's facial recognition and "liveness detection" features, which verify if a camera is capturing a live person. Though Meta deleted these integrations from its app on June 5, remnants were found in a version of the Meta AI app shipped to millions of consumers this month, alongside Meta's own dormant face-recognition system.
Meta declined to comment on its relationship with Rank One or the reasons for licensing the software. Rank One also refused to comment. Founded in 2015 by engineers with experience in facial recognition systems, Rank One Computing recently went public. Its leadership includes former high-ranking officials from the FBI and CIA.
Concerns remain about the potential biases in facial recognition technology. Testing by the National Institute of Standards and Technology has shown that Rank One's algorithms can produce different error rates based on a person's sex and country of birth. As facial recognition technology becomes more integrated into consumer products, experts warn of significant, unbounded risks without adequate regulation.
