Slate recently did a deep dive into the use of facial recognition at sporting venues and found 20 other venues where the technology is being knowingly used. The actual number is likely higher due to a lack of transparency around use of the tech, as there are many jurisdictions that don’t have laws or regulations requiring disclosure of when facial recognition technology is in use.
In most cases, the stadiums are only using the technology at entrances to verify ticketholders’ identities and at concession stands for age-restricted items and to facilitate payments. However, there are other uses, like Sun Devil Stadium in Arizona, which is using facial recognition in a “living lab” scenario to analyze fans’ emotions “based on their facial expressions.” The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., was found to have scanned the faces of 30,000 attendees in 2020 without their knowledge, and BMO Stadium in Los Angeles currently only uses the tech at training facility entrances but says it wants to “move everything to face.”
Check out Slate’s full list here.
