Disney has been sued in California federal court, alleging the entertainment goliath used facial recognition technology at Disneyland entrances without proper disclosure.
The class-action suit accuses the cartoon company of violating privacy, competition, and consumer protection laws by using the technology to verify tickets.
The face-scanning technology works by taking pictures of the guest’s face and comparing them to when the ticket or annual pass was first used.
Facial recognition under scrutiny
As per Hollywood Reporter: The complaint claims that the company “does not adequately disclose the use of their biometric collection, so consumers – which almost always include children – have no idea that Disney is collecting this highly sensitive data.”
Disney launched the facial tech at the entrances of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in April.
Company officials have said the technology’s purpose is to make entering and re-entering the park easier – prevent fraud.
Consent at the centre
The lawsuit argues that signs at four entrances, showing a slash through a silhouette to indicate that visitors can avoid the technology, do not provide meaningful notice.
Blake Yagman, a lawyer for the proposed class of visitors, said guests should have to opt in expressly.
“Guests should be able to expressly opt in to this type of sensitive facial recognition technology with written consent – the onus of privacy rights should not be on the victim,” Yagman stated in the complaint.
“Given how sensitive facial recognition data is, explicit written consent should be required to protect the privacy guests at Disney Theme Parks.”
What the lawsuit claims
The complaint alleges that Disney’s privacy policy states that facial recognition data is deleted within 30 days unless it is needed for legal or fraud-prevention purposes.
But the lawsuit challenges that claim, arguing it “simply cannot be true given the biometric information is compared to when guests first bought tickets or annual passes and associated their pictures with those tickets or passes.”
The complaint also alleges that Disney collects biometric data at other theme parks through MagicBand use and its PhotoPass program.
The proposed class action seeks to represent park visitors who were subject to facial recognition. It is seeking at least A$7 million.
The case comes as facial recognition technology becomes more dominant across sports and entertainment venues. Stadiums and parks have used the technology to prevent fraud, streamline entry, manage crowd flow and support security.
But the lawsuit raises broader concerns about private surveillance and the capitalistic use of sensitive personal information and data.
Disney has yet to react publicly to the complaint.