'Here we have a leap in the erosion of our privacy rights through this slick technology that big tech promises will enrich our lives,' says Ryan Clarkson, one of the lawyers bringing a class-action suit against Meta over its privacy assurances. 'Here we have a leap in the erosion of our privacy rights through this slick technology that big tech promises will enrich our lives,' says Ryan Clarkson, one of the lawyers bringing a class-action suit against Meta over its privacy assurances. Did someone wearing Meta Glasses film you today? People say they've been secretly filmed in their own home, at concerts and at work. Are the wildly popular smartglasses the final nail in the coffin of personal privacy? The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. "I've had one person who told me that their intentions were creepy," a man tells me over a video call, on condition of anonymity.

Matt Arnold was incorrectly identified of being a shoplifter at Sainsbury's East Dulwich superstore. Matt Arnold was incorrectly identified of being a shoplifter at Sainsbury's East Dulwich superstore. Sainsbury's store pauses AI scanning after false shoplifting accusation Supermarket chain says'human error', not its Facewatch technology, to blame for ejecting a customer Sainsbury's has paused the use of AI face scanning in one of its stores after a customer was wrongly identified as a shoplifter and ejected from the shop. "I was embarrassed, mortified even, and felt quite humiliated and powerless," Matt Arnold, 46, said of his ordeal. The comedy promoter was buying supplies in the store in East Dulwich, in south-east London, for a standup event at Dulwich Hamlet football club when, after scanning his items and a Nectar card, he was approached by two managers who told him he could not be served owing to an earlier incident.

Kylie Jenner Wants to Sell It. In the age of facial recognition, privacy is a status symbol. Become a member to share 10 free articles a month. Become a member to share 10 free articles a month. Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily.

Customers inside a B&M store, which is one of more than 100 businesses that will be using the technology. Customers inside a B&M store, which is one of more than 100 businesses that will be using the technology. Civil liberties groups say Facewatch system in stores such as Sainsbury's and B&M is'dangerous escalation' Fri 10 Jul 2026 06.19 EDTLast modified on Fri 10 Jul 2026 06.57 Facial recognition technology in shops will soon alert police in real time to the presence of serious offenders, with civil liberties groups warning of a "dangerous escalation" towards surveillance and criminalisation in the retail sector. Facewatch, a facial recognition system used by more than 100 businesses including Sainsbury's, B&M and Spar to monitor thieves, said it was launching a UK-first feature to "alert police instantly when the most serious offenders trigger a live facial recognition match".

The Met plan to deploy static cameras in the West End and Soho, which have some of the highest crime rates in the capital. The Met plan to deploy static cameras in the West End and Soho, which have some of the highest crime rates in the capital. Technology to be used in six more areas next year as critics say tens of thousands of people will be forced into'digital police lineup' The Metropolitan police is to expand its use of live facial recognition (LFR) technology, first into London's West End by Christmas and then into a further six areas next year. The new cameras will be fixed, and could be attached to street furniture such as lamp-posts. Critics said the new plans mean tens of thousands of people will be forced into a "digital police lineup".

Evan Spiegel doesn't want you to call Snap Specs AI glasses Evan Spiegel doesn't want you to call Snap Specs AI glasses Snap's CEO sat down with Engadget after his keynote at AWE. Snap's newly announced AR Specs might seem similar to other smartglasses, but Snap CEO Evan Spiegel says that's the wrong way to think about the product. Specs, he says, is a new type of computer, a see-through computer. Shortly after unveiling Specs at AWE, Spiegel sat down with Engadget to tell us more about the device we got a glimpse of onstage. The CEO repeatedly referred to Specs as a computer and that really is core to understanding how Snap is positioning the product (and justifying the price). Specs, Spiegel said, is able to overlay computing on the world around you and bring computing into the world, which is so important if you want to make computing feel more human. But Snap will have to do more than just persuade people to buy a computer for their face.

Is Big Brother watching you shop? - podcast From supermarkets to corner shops, live facial recognition could be coming to retailers near you. Live facial recognition is being hailed as a powerful new frontier in the fight against crime, not only by police but by private companies too. Retailers from supermarkets to corner shops hope it will help them fight back against shoplifting. And the technology doesn't always get it right. With more police forces wanting to take up the technology, what could the consequences be?

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. I'll never buy another laptop without Windows Hello It's so important, I even go out of my way to add it to my desktop PCs! I review a lot of laptops here at PCWorld, and I'm always surprised when I unbox one without biometric hardware. Fingerprint readers and infrared (IR) cameras for facial recognition are both great--and some laptops even have both! But then you have those that skip the biometric hardware entirely, which is a huge loss these days.

Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026 is Feb. 25 Valve's Steam Machine: Everything we know The controversial technology could roll out as soon as this year. Meta has backed away from highly controversial facial recognition tech in its products and services before, but seemingly not so far that it isn't willing to have another crack at it. A new report from claims Mark Zuckerberg's company wants to add facial recognition to its lineup of branded smart glasses at some point this year. The spoke to four anonymous people with knowledge of Meta's plans, who told the publication that the feature is codenamed Name Tag internally. As you'd expect, it would let people wearing Meta-powered Oakley or Ray-Ban glasses identify people and get information about them using AI.

ICE and CBP's Face-Recognition App Can't Actually Verify Who People Are ICE has used Mobile Fortify to identify immigrants and citizens alike over 100,000 times, by one estimate. It wasn't built to work like that--and only got approved after DHS abandoned its own privacy rules. The face-recognition app Mobile Fortify, now used by United States immigration agents in towns and cities across the US, is not designed to reliably identify people in the streets and was deployed without the scrutiny that has historically governed the rollout of technologies that impact people's privacy, according to records reviewed by WIRED. The Department of Homeland Security launched Mobile Fortify in the spring of 2025 to "determine or verify" the identities of individuals stopped or detained by DHS officers during federal operations, records show. DHS explicitly linked the rollout to an executive order, signed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office, which called for a "total and efficient" crackdown on undocumented immigrants through the use of expedited removals, expanded detention, and funding pressure on states, among other tactics. Despite DHS repeatedly framing Mobile Fortify as a tool for identifying people through facial recognition, however, the app does not actually "verify" the identities of people stopped by federal immigration agents--a well-known limitation of the technology and a function of how Mobile Fortify is designed and used.