Technology / 08.22.19

Manchester City Warned Against Using Facial Recognition on Fans

Access Staff

The Guardian (08/19/19) Wolfe-Robinson, Maya

Britain's Manchester City football league has been warned against rolling out facial recognition technology, which would risk "normalizing a mass surveillance tool," according to a civil rights group. The leading Premier League champions are considering technology allowing fans to be admitted to Etihad Stadium faster by using their faces rather than tickets as ID. "This is a disturbing move ... subjecting football fans to an intrusive scan, much like taking a fingerprint, just so they can go to the Saturday game," said Liberty policy and campaigns officer Hannah Couchman. Texas-based Blink Identity claims its products can spot people walking at regular speed, so fans will not have to slow down to display a ticket or use a turnstile. Supporters would opt in by registering a selfie taken on their phone, while Blink Identity added that the collection of "usable and sharable data" on every individual who walks through its facial scanning software is possible. The Football Supporters' Association's Amanda Jacks said the association will keep an eye on how facial recognition technology is used. "Given fans will still have to be searched before entering any stadium, and the technology is apparently only fractionally faster that electronic card readers, it's difficult to see how this is genuinely an improvement on the current system," she noted.

Read the full article on The Guardian. 

Tags: Security , Regulations , News