Meta has reportedly abandoned its Facebook Watch, plans to release it in 2026, and will likely wring its hands for what health data it will learn from you and then turn around and monetize.
In 2021, Facebook had plans to make a smartwatch, and it was far enough along that even a picture of how much it looked like the Apple Watch leaked.
Nothing came of it then, but maybe not for technological reasons. It was also in 2021 that Facebook rebranded itself as Meta in a feeble attempt to distance itself from its own appalling record of privacy violations.
Among many other breaches and mistakes was the Cambridge Analytical scandal, which led to Tim Cook calling for stricter privacy standards. It also led to Meta paying $725 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over the platform’s lack of privacy protections.
But then also in 2021, Apple launched its app tracking transparency. That’s a privacy feature that in its first year, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company would take a $10 billion hit because it also failed to personalize advertising because it could no longer get as much data from dark patterns.
So maybe Facebook/Meta/whoever just couldn’t afford to go ahead with their smartwatch project. Although if Apple’s privacy improvements shave billions off your revenue, you’re not selling watches, you’re monetizing people’s personal data on a ridiculous scale.
Still, by August 2025, Meta had seemingly recovered enough to be suspected of finding a way to obfuscate Apple’s privacy policy.
With probably a little more cash on hand, and still reeling from the transparency of tracking apps, the arrival of Facebook Watch has once again begun to be reported. As he states Informationamong many others, FaceBook Watch is planned for 2026.
There aren’t many details yet, but then there might not be. Originally, the idea was to track health data, and that’s unlikely to change in the new version.
An image of the alleged Facebook Watch from 2021. Note the camera at the bottom.
As in 2021, the Facebook Watch still has to compete with its competitors, especially the Apple Watch. Whether it can do it on features or not, the smart money says it will compete on exactly that, money.
While Meta hasn’t spoken publicly, it’s a fair bet that the Facebook Watch will be priced significantly lower than the Apple Watch. On the plus side, it would be consistent with Zuckerberg’s previous statements about making products for “people who can’t afford to pay” and instead don’t value their private information.
On the negative side, this comment from him was in support of the ad. This could mean that you have passed an ad before seeing the time on your Facebook Watch.
But on the other, more certain downside, the Facebook Watch will be priced low for one reason. Meta will want as many people as possible to buy it, since it’s not a hardware that makes money for the company so far.
It will be your data, your personal data. Your blood pressure, sleeping habits, medications and much more. We’ve already seen how badly ChatGPT uses your health data, but at least it’s transparent to users.
With Facebook Watch, we may never know how much money Meta makes from breaking the backbone of your privacy.