Tom Morello and Zack De La Rocha (of Rage Against The Machine), as well as 100 other artists including Boots Riley, Downtown Boys and more, have teamed up to protest against several concert venues in the United States that are using facial scanning at their events.
For many, this measure may sound good when identifying people who cause incidents or guaranteeing security at a concert. However, the issue is more complex than it seems, which is why artists call to defend people’s “digital rights”.
Tom Morello, Zack de la Rocha and more artists protest against the use of facial recognition at concerts
It all started when in December 2022 Rolling Stone unveiled what isl Madison Square Garden and all its associated venues have used facial recognition technology to ban lawyers who filed lawsuits against him from events.
Madison Square Garden banned attorneys who work for firms that have lawsuits (or are in the process of lawsuits) against their campuses. Something that the venue defended by saying that it was to avoid a kind of confrontation in legal proceedings.
Madison Square Garden has banned people from using facial recognition
The thing is the digital rights defense group, ‘Fight for the Future’, sees the use of this technology in concerts as something serious. Well, in addition to using digital scanning to veto people, they believe that this measure is dangerous.
“This invasive biometric surveillance is not secure, especially for black and brown people who have been falsely arrested or thrown out of public places because of the entrenched discrimination of technology”the group said in a statement.
Musicians and activists ask that venues in the United States not use this technology
“In recent years, a coalition of musicians, fans, and human rights groups have succeeded in More than 40 of the world’s biggest music festivals, including Bonnaroo and Coachella, have said they won’t use facial recognition at events.”is read in the letter that warns about the danger of this measure.
‘Fight for the Future’ indicated that this facial recognition technology is beginning to spread, as now in concerts people who buy their tickets online can verify their identity more effective.
Using facial recognition at concerts is an invasion of people’s privacy
The truth is that in addition to that, facial recognition at concerts also serves as a surveillance tool and as a biometric data bank and personal data that could be quite dangerous if they end up in the hands of hackers or cybercriminals.
While surveillance technology companies are presenting this tool as something “innovative”, artists and concertgoers indicate that this is also a door for privacy to disappear And the world watches our every move.
The protest has already taken a wide reach in the United States, which several small venues in New York have pledged not to use this type of technology of facial recognition for the concerts that take place in them. What do you think about it?
