The dilemma of facial recognition in football: does it violate individual rights or increase security?

About ten years ago, Spanish football began to be talked about biometric control of access to stadiums. The implementation of this measure, instigated by the then Secretary of State for Security, Francisco Martínez, was promoted after the killing of ultras from Deportivo de La Coruña in a mass brawl between supporters of the Galician team and radicals from Atlético de Madrid.

For a while in some Spanish stadiums, such as the old Vicente Calderón or the Santiago Bernabéu, fans added their fingerprints and facial features to electronic identification systems, a leading standard in sports security, but which fell on deaf ears after a report by the Data Protection Agency . The public body has made several demands on various clubs in recent times A league that already had such a system installed to control animation assets.

The dilemma that arises regarding facial recognition in football is whether it violates the rights and freedoms of the individual, and is therefore illegal. “The main task of implementing this technology is to increase the safety of visitors in the stands, since people can be identified and checked to see if they are authorized, that is, if they can pose a danger to other individuals present. present there”, explains Mariona Campmany, marketing director of Veridas, the company that implemented this technology to access the interior of the hall on the turnstiles of the El Sadar stadium, Osasuna.

It is not mass surveillance, it is a private and voluntary system

“It is a 100% voluntary system and the member chooses freely, he can unsubscribe at any time and with the possibility to continue using the other access systems whenever he wants,” explains the Navarre company representative. To use the system, fans only need to register on the line and from any device. «All you have to do is scan your ID, club season ticket and get selfies. After this is done, they can access the premises with their face, without having to provide anything else, Veridas points out, stressing that it must be clear that this is not video surveillance.

The company states that in this particular case of the Navarre club, there are 9,800 people who access the stadium using this method. “Identity verification carried out by our solution is carried out only according to the database of registered users who have decided to be part of it; it requires users to be at a distance of one meter,” they point out. Although no system is 100% invulnerable, if data were to be hacked, those responsible at Veridas claim that this vector could not be used for identity theft, ATM withdrawals or phone unlocking, for example.

Football is playing a tough game against current data protection. Technology is increasingly present in the sports sector, revolutionizing the fan experience, but it can also become a great ally when it comes to avoiding the unwanted episodes seen during this season, such as pitch invasions or racist chants. «This technology, along with artificial intelligence, allows the security team to verify and authenticate a person in real time.», comments Rafael Conde del Pozo, spokesperson for Softtek, a company dedicated to digital solutions. The expert indicates that all this implies registration and data protection, “therefore, policies and related practices must be transparent and accessible, respecting at all times regulations and laws in order to establish protective measures and guarantee respect for the rights and privacy of viewers.” ».

You cannot be forced to accept biometric control

In March, the league prepared a letter asking the government for help in the process of installing biometric control systems in the stadium’s entertainment funds, an action they consider essential to control fans and eliminate racist and xenophobic behavior. violent in stadiums.

Why is this system still not regulated if it is useful for safety? «Community law prohibits the use of biometric data without consent, and the data protection law of our country prohibits the collection of this data, although it provides for exceptions of essential public interest and the free and informed consent of the user. A person cannot be forced to accept biometric control, so now the only solution is to give two options: access with a ticket or through facial recognition,” explains Conde del Pozo, who defends that technology in football should not only arrive to deliver justice with implementations like what is VAR.

“The goal of every club is for the fan experience to be optimal in a safe sports environment, and in order to achieve this, the competent authorities, event organizers, security teams and finally the spectators themselves must be involved,” he emphasizes.

Among the virtues in the implementation of this system, Veridas points out other virtues such as “enabling other services such as face-to-face payments in the facilities of the stadium itself or other experiences intended for members and season ticket holders; It also offers a fast and comfortable user experience, without any waiting.”