Friday, November 19, 2021
Artists, Advocates Call on Red Rocks, AEG to Drop Amazon Palm Tech
www.ticketnews.com: More than 200 artists and privacy advocacy groups have penned an open letter calling on Red Rocks, AXS, and AEG to immediately stop its use of the Amazon One biometric scanning system. Among those signing are Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna, and Pittsburgh punk group Anti-Flag. Groups signed on include Common Dreams, the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers, Fight for the Future, and the Athena Coalition.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I had no idea that concert venues were implementing biometric scans into their entrance procedures, and I am definitely not a fan of the idea. The reasoning is claimed to be “convenience,” but I fail to see how this is any more convenient than a paper or digital ticket. Especially with digital QR code tickets, a vast majority of people have their phones on them at all times, so their tickets would be easily accessible. Using biometrics just to admit people to something as low stakes as a concert seems like a massive invasion of privacy. When I think biometrics, I think of high level security, like government agencies and the like. But a concert venue? That seems excessive and ridiculous. I would not feel comfortable having to scan my whole palm just so I can watch a band I like perform a set. We have already lost so much in the way of privacy with our digital data and selective advertising and such things, but using biometrics for something so simple feels like a slap in the face. No thank you.
Companies collect and sell personal data. At this point, this should be commonly accepted knowledge. Knowing that, why would you give biometric information directly to Amazon. The idea of similar technology, specifically facial recognition, had been brought up in 2019 before. Companies like Live Nation and AXS issued public statements, promising they would not use systems like that at festivals after widespread campaigns pushing back against such technology. But now they’re interested in using scanning audiences’ palms as a way to enter those venues? The two ultimately have the same function--allowing companies to collect biometric data. The value in biometric data is the fact that most of it cannot be changed. It marks you and somewhere down the line, corporations will make more money. As much as I love live music, if this was the only way to go see it, I wouldn’t.
Amazon once again being horrifying in regards to invasion of privacy under the guise of ‘convenience’ - not surprising, but a new facet of the same problem. Alexa is a great example of this exact issue - sure, let’s all put microphones in our houses that are constantly listening, because it can do the exact same functions as a phone, but by talking! Convenient! There’s just no reason for tickets to events to involve biometric scans, and the fact that it’s so normalized now for companies to have scans of your fingerprints and faces is just a little horrifying. (Which I realize I say with my iPhone, using face ID to unlock it every day). Amazon consistently states that privacy is their top priority, which first of all makes very little sense due to the invasive nature of the technology itself, but also tends to be focused on the idea of data leaks, as opposed to privacy from Amazon itself. There’s really not a lot we can do about it, which is frustrating itself, but wow, this is just not okay.
Post a Comment