Fans won鈥檛 face the music after promoters ban facial recognition
Concert promoters in the US are stepping back from plans to scan festivalgoers with facial recognition technology, after musicians and others gave it some serious side-eye. Although it remains entirely possible that music venues will eventually take a second look at the controversial technology.
Live-entertainment giants AEG Presents and Live Nation both recently disavowed any plans to use facial recognition at music festivals, despite earlier indications to the contrary. Their public pronouncements have led a group of musicians to declare victory after a months-long campaign to halt the technology鈥檚 use at live shows.
Advances in computer vision have enabled businesses to install cameras that can recognize individuals by their face or other biometric characteristics. Venue operators have talked about using the technology at gateways to secure entry for select groups or to offer perks for repeat customers.
Privacy advocates worry that such uses might also pave the way for greater intrusions, such as scanning audience members in real time to analyze their behavior. Both concert organizations seemed to be edging toward remembering more faces.
In May 2018, for instance, Live Nation subsidiary Ticketmaster announced it was partnering with and investing in Texas facial recognition startup Blink Identity, saying in a note to shareholders that its technology will enable music fans to associate their digital ticket with their image and 鈥渢hen just walk into the show.鈥
AEG, which operates the Coachella festival in southern California and other major events, updated its online privacy policy earlier this year with language stating that it may collect facial images at its events and venues for 鈥渁ccess control,鈥 creating aggregate data or for 鈥減ersonalization鈥 鈥 a term commonly used by retailers trying to tailor advertising or promotions to a specific customer鈥檚 behavior. Now, however, both organizations have done an about-face. AEG鈥檚 chief operating officer for festivals, Melissa Ormond, emailed activists earlier this month to say: 鈥淎EG festivals do not use facial recognition technology and do not have plans to implement.鈥
Live Nation said in a statement that 鈥渨e do not currently have plans to deploy facial recognition technology at our clients鈥 venues.鈥 The company insisted that any future use would be 鈥渟trictly opt-in,鈥 so that non-consenting fans won鈥檛 have to worry about potentially facing the music.
Facial recognition isn鈥檛 seen in many musical venues. The biggest location known to employ it is New York City鈥檚 Madison Square Garden, which confirmed this week that facial recognition is one of the security measures it uses 鈥渢o ensure the safety of everyone鈥 in the arena. It declined to say what it looks at and why.
While the music industry paused, Major League Baseball stole a base by rolling out biometric ticketing in the US, usually involving fingerprints or iris scans to get into ballparks. Authorities in some parts of Europe have bounced around the idea of using either facial or voice recognition to keep tabs on unruly soccer fans, such as those participating in racist chants.
American music event promoters this fall have been pressured to disclose their facial recognition plans by digital rights group Fight for the Future, which asked dozens of festival organizers to pledge not to use a technology it describes as invasive and racially biased.
Organizers of the Summer Meltdown Festival outside Seattle said they are 鈥渉appily free of facial recognition technology.鈥 Also confirming they don鈥檛 use it were hosts of events including South by Southwest, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Governors Ball and the Voodoo Music and Arts Experience in New Orleans.
Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello co-authored an opinion column in BuzzFeed last week that described the pledge as the 鈥渇irst major blow to the spread of commercial facial recognition in the United States.鈥
The CEO of Blink Identity says opposition to its Ticketmaster partnership is misguided.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e talking about mass surveillance,鈥 said Mary Haskett, who co-founded the Austin, Texas startup. 鈥淲e鈥檙e against mass surveillance.... Nobody鈥檚 talking about doing what they鈥檙e protesting against.鈥
Haskett said Blink鈥檚 system allows concertgoers to opt in by taking selfies with their phones, which the company transforms into mathematical representations and deletes. The system might offer access to a shorter line or a VIP section. But protesting musicians fear their fans鈥 mugshots could still end up in the hands of law enforcement or immigration authorities.
鈥淥f course it鈥檚 going to be used by security,鈥 said Joey La Neve DeFrancesco, a guitarist for Rhode Island punk band Downtown Boys, which played Coachella in 2017. 鈥淥f course it鈥檚 going to be used by law enforcement.鈥
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