Disneyland starts optional face recognition lanes at park entrances

In short: Disney says visitors at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure can choose an entrance lane that uses face recognition.

What happened

Disney announced a test that lets guests enter through a lane equipped with face recognition at Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park in California. The company says using the face recognition lane is optional.

Disney also says that even if you do not use the face recognition lane, you may still have your image taken when you enter through other lanes. In other words, photos at the entrance can still happen, even if the system is not doing a face match.

Disney explained that its face recognition works by turning a picture of a person’s face into a number, like a digital fingerprint. That number can be compared to other images to confirm a match. Disney says it deletes these face numbers after 30 days, except when it must keep data for legal reasons or fraud prevention.

Why it matters

Face recognition is becoming more common in everyday places, not just in police work. It is already used in some airports and sports stadiums, and now it is moving further into family entertainment spaces. For visitors, the key questions are simple: whether you are comfortable being scanned, how long the information is kept, and what choices you actually have when you walk through the gate.

Source: Wired