People whose photos were uploaded to Facebook or Instagram may be covered by a proposed class action alleging Meta Platforms used those images to build faceprints for NameTag, an unreleased face-recognition feature for its smart glasses, and to train its Emu and Muse Image AI models without consent. No class has been certified and there is nothing to file yet.
Allegations Only · No Settlement Yet
This article describes a class action complaint. The statements below are unproven allegations. Meta has not been found liable, there is no certified class, and nothing to claim at this time. This page is informational and is not legal advice.
What Is This About?
Two families, one from Illinois and one from California, sued Meta Platforms, Inc. on September 4, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The case, Alvarez v. Meta Platforms, Inc., No. 1:26-cv-10773, is assigned to Judge April M. Perry. Each family includes a parent and a minor child whose photos were posted to Facebook or Instagram.The complaint alleges Meta harvested faces from photos on its platforms to build a face-recognition system for its smart glasses, known internally as NameTag, and to train generative AI image models, all without the notice and consent that Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act requires. It also brings California right-of-publicity and privacy claims. The allegations are unproven, and Meta has not yet filed its response.
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What Is NameTag?
NameTag is the name the complaint and press reports use for a face-recognition feature built for Meta’s Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses. In June 2026, WIRED reported that it had found unreleased face-recognition code inside the Meta AI companion app that pairs with the glasses, which the complaint says had been downloaded more than 50 million times. According to that reporting, the feature was designed to turn faces captured by the glasses into faceprints and check them against faceprints stored on the user’s phone.The complaint also quotes a New York Times report from February 2026 on an internal Meta memo, which said the company would launch facial recognition on the glasses “during a dynamic political environment” when civil-society groups would be focused elsewhere. After WIRED’s report, a Meta spokesperson said the company was exploring facial recognition, that “nothing has shipped to consumers,” and that it was “not building a central face database,” Biometric Update reported. The complaint alleges Meta later removed the NameTag code from the app without stopping the collection behind it.
The AI Image-Model Claims
The suit’s second theory concerns Meta’s text-to-image models, including Emu and Muse Image. The complaint cites Meta’s own statement that Emu was trained on 1.1 billion images and alleges Meta used photos from Facebook and Instagram to train its models, creating and storing biometric data about the people in them.It also points to Muse Image, which Meta launched in July 2026 with an Instagram feature that let users generate AI images based on public accounts. Meta pulled the feature from Instagram three days later, saying it had “missed the mark.” The complaint alleges the same capability remains available through the Meta AI app and website. Meta has not addressed those allegations in court.
Who Is in the Proposed Classes?
The complaint proposes three classes, each made up of people whose image was uploaded to a Facebook account, an Instagram account or one of Meta’s generative AI models: a national class of everyone in the United States, an Illinois class for the biometric privacy claims, and a California class for the state privacy claim. The proposed class period runs from September 4, 2021 to the present. The complaint estimates the national class in the millions and the Illinois and California classes in the hundreds of thousands.Because the classes turn on whose image was uploaded, they could include people who never had a Facebook or Instagram account but appear in someone else’s photos. No class has been certified, and the definitions can change.
How This Differs From Other Meta Lawsuits
This case is not about the glasses recording people. That issue is the subject of separate suits, including the Meta Ray-Ban and Oakley glasses privacy class action and the lawsuit over glasses recording without “Hey Meta”. It is also separate from the Meta voiceprint BIPA lawsuit.Meta has faced biometric claims before. It paid $650 million to settle an Illinois class action over Facebook’s photo-tagging face recognition, and in 2024 agreed to pay Texas $1.4 billion over biometric data. In 2021 Meta said it would shut down Facebook’s face recognition system and delete more than a billion face templates.
What Happens Next
The court extended Meta’s deadline to respond to the complaint on September 28, 2026. On October 23, Meta asked for permission to file a brief longer than the usual page limit. No court has ruled on the claims, and the case is at its earliest stage.Questions
Is NameTag available on Meta’s smart glasses?
Not as a released feature. Meta said after WIRED’s June 2026 report on the NameTag code that it was exploring facial recognition and that “nothing has shipped to consumers,” Biometric Update reported. The complaint alleges the code was placed in the Meta AI companion app before being removed, and that Meta has not stopped using people’s images and biometric data to build the underlying models. Those allegations are unproven.
Can people who never used Facebook or Instagram be in the class?
The proposed classes are defined by whose image was uploaded, not by who holds an account: they cover people whose image was uploaded to a Facebook account, an Instagram account or one of Meta’s AI image tools since September 4, 2021. That can include people who appear in someone else’s photos. The definitions are only proposed; no class has been certified.
Is this the same as the $650 million Facebook face-tagging settlement?
No. That earlier Illinois settlement resolved claims over Facebook’s old photo-tagging face recognition, which Meta said in 2021 it was shutting down. The new case challenges NameTag and Meta’s AI image models, and it covers a class period beginning September 4, 2021. It is also separate from OCA’s coverage of suits over recording by Meta’s Ray-Ban and Oakley glasses.
What damages does the lawsuit seek?
For the Illinois class, the complaint seeks BIPA’s liquidated damages of $1,000 per negligent violation or $5,000 per intentional or reckless violation, or actual damages if greater. For the national and California classes, it seeks damages under California right-of-publicity and privacy law. These are the plaintiffs’ requests, not an award; there is no settlement or fund.
Sources
• Class Action Complaint, Alvarez v. Meta Platforms, Inc., No. 1:26-cv-10773 (N.D. Ill.) (September 4, 2026), and docket entries through October 23, 2026• Biometric Update, “Meta sued over alleged facial recognition training for smart glasses” (September 7, 2026)
• WIRED, “Meta Silently Added Face-Recognition Code for Its Smart Glasses to Millions of Phones” (June 4, 2026)
• Meta, “Introducing Muse Image” (July 7, 2026)
• Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, 740 ILCS 14
