Stop the NFL’s Dangerous Facial Recognition Play

The NFL has adopted facial recognition technology at a major scale: it is currently being used at all 32 teams’ stadiums as a tool for credentialing staff, vendors, and media. This puts the personal and sensitive biometric data of thousands of people at risk.

The use of facial recognition in the workplace allows employers to watch workers’ every move, creating a culture of spying and distrust. Facial recognition also puts workers’ sensitive data at risk of privacy violations. Unlike a credit card number, you can’t change your face if it’s stolen. When companies store such sensitive data in massive databases, it becomes a juicy target for hackers. This tech has no place anywhere, much less sports stadiums, and it must be stopped.

How bad is the NFL’s use of facial recognition? Even the Las Vegas police oppose it. After the NFL announced this plan, the Las Vegas police pushed back and threatened to boycott NFL games because they didn’t want the NFL and a surveillance company collecting their biometric information.

The NFL’s use of facial recognition to surveil workers is just the latest example of this dangerous tech infiltrating stadiums. Whether it’s in the form of worker surveillance, ticketing, or concession stands payments, facial recognition puts people in danger at every turn. We need to oppose this tech in arenas and everywhere. Demand the NFL cancel its facial recognition program for stadium workers and commit to keeping arenas free of dangerous biometric surveillance. Stand up for employee privacy and against the spread of invasive surveillance technology by signing the petition.