NFL Deploys Facial Recognition Tech at ALL 32 Stadiums

“And I'm proud to be an American
Where at least I know I'm free”
- Lee Greenwood, God Bless The USA

America, fuck yeah!

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

[All-American guitar chords]

USA! USA! USA!

Via The Record (emphasis added):

“The National Football League is the latest organization to turn to facial authentication to bolster event security, according to an announcement this week.

All 32 NFL stadiums will start using the technology this season, after the league signed a contract with a company that uses facial scans to verify the identity of people entering event venues and other secure spaces.

The facial authentication platform, which counts the Cleveland Browns’ owners as investors*, will be used to ‘streamline and secure’ entry for thousands of credentialed media, officials, staff and guests so they can easily access restricted areas such as press boxes and locker rooms, Jeff Boehm, the chief operating officer of Wicket, said in a LinkedIn post Monday.”

*What a wild coincidence.

Continuing:

“‘Fans come look at the tablet and, instantly, the tablet recognizes the fan,’** Brandon Covert, the vice president of information technology for the Cleveland Browns, said in a testimonial appearing on Wicket’s website.  ‘It’s almost a half-second stop. It’s not even a stop — more of a pause.’

‘It has greatly reduced the amount of time and friction that comes with entering the stadium,’ Covert added. ‘It’s so much faster.’

The Browns also use Wicket to verify the ages of fans purchasing alcohol at concession stands, according to Wicket’s LinkedIn page.

The use of facial recognition or authentication technology, particularly when applied to thousands of people who are scanned in the course of doing their job or entering a sports stadium, has long concerned privacy advocates.

In addition to concerns about the technology being used to track people's locations, privacy advocates and academics say that facial recognition technology intensifies racial and gender discrimination because it is more frequently inaccurate when identifying people of color, women and nonbinary individuals.”

**“Bend over and spread your cheeks so the nice man can insert the tablet for safety, Billy.” Cowboys fan Bob tells his boy. “We’re here to watch America’s Team so you can learn what it is to be a real man and a patriot.”

It took ten paragraphs for The Record — I’m happy they reported on this at all, so credit where it’s due — to ever mention any privacy concerns or potential for this technology to violate civil liberties

And then, when it finally gets around to it, the paper must note that the essential issue is that it’s racist and sexist, glossing over the more fundamental problem of the machines turning everyone into techno-serfs.

For the record, I’m old enough to remember when so-called conservatives — save for a valiant and noble minority a la Ron Paul — were all about getting their privacy invaded and getting groped at airports for AMERICA NUMBER ONE FUCK YEAH.

Bush on the PATRIOT Act:

"The law allows our intelligence and law enforcement officials to continue to share information. It allows them to continue to use tools against terrorists that they used against -- that they use against drug dealers and other criminals. It will improve our nation's security while we safeguard the civil liberties of our people. The legislation strengthens the Justice Department so it can better detect and disrupt terrorist threats. And the bill gives law enforcement new tools to combat threats to our citizens from international terrorists to local drug dealers."

-President George W. Bush
March 9, 2006

Because if you don’t get molested by a portly government employee before you get on an airplane, remember, the terrorists win.

What is this nonsense about “civil liberties”? What are you, al-Quaeda?

USA FUCK YEAH.

Ben Bartee is an independent Bangkok-based American journalist with opposable thumbs.

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