Disney rolls out facial recognition to confirm tickets and stop fraud at one of its parks

Disney is rolling out facial recognition technology to speed up entry and prevent fraud at its California parks.

Park-goers “may choose to use entrance lanes equipped with facial recognition technology,” where cameras capture a photo and convert it into “unique numerical values” to verify identities, the company said.

The images can be compared with pictures taken when a customer first used the ticket or annual pass. The system deletes the information within 30 days.

Disney says participation is voluntary and that entrances without biometric scanning remain available. Those lanes have cast members manually validate tickets and are marked with a silhouette of a head and shoulders with a slash through it.

The technology is meant to help make entering and re-entering the park easier and prevent fraud, Disney Resort officials told The Independent. Disney said on its website that it takes the “security, integrity and confidentiality” of guest data seriously, but also notes that “despite our best efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable.”

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“The Happiest Place on Earth” has become the latest in the entertainment industry to deploy the technology, following in the steps of many stadiums and arenas, including New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

Disneyland guests had mixed reactions to the recent rollout of the technology.

“Pretty much every other place is doing the same thing,” John LeSchofs, 73, told the Los Angeles Times. “The police, the government, they’re all using facial recognition. I don’t think it’s going to stop.”

Robert Howell, 30, who was visiting the park for the first time from Virginia, told The LA Times he hadn’t heard about the new policy but was worried about how the data would be used.

“It’s a little scary because it’s not clear how it’s going to be used,” Howell said. “With TSA I know that’s an option that you can opt out, but I didn’t realize you could here so I just did it.”

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Other guests visiting with their children had concerns about how it might affect them. Sandra Contreras, who has a five-year-old daughter and an infant son, said she felt like she couldn’t opt out.

“When it came to me, I just did it,” she said. “But when they were going to do it for her it freaked me out a little bit, to be honest. I mean I felt like we had to do it, so she did it, but I think it’s more concerning for children just to protect their privacy.”

Facial recognition has been implemented at entertainment venues across the country, including Intuit Dome’s “GameFaceID” and Dodger Stadium’s “Go Ahead Entry,” both of which allow ticket holders to quickly enter the venue.

The technological advancements have sparked concerns among privacy experts.

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“The normalization of facial surveillance is really problematic,” said Ari Waldman, a professor of law at UC Irvine. “We can’t go around life hiding our faces, so this isn’t just next step in surveillance, it’s qualitatively different. In a world of facial recognition, when people leave their house it automatically means they’re identified.”

The American Civil Liberties Union has also raised concerns about facial recognition and other biometric technology being implemented at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, according to the report.

Experts also warn that a rise in this technology may cause data breaches.

“If you collect this type of data you have put a target on your back for people to steal it,” said Adam Schwartz, privacy litigation director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates against the government's use of facial recognition data.

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