Six Flags Amusement Parks Implement Biometric Scanners

Some customers at Montreal’s La Ronde amusement park are upset about the park’s decision to implement biometric scanners to curb ticket fraud, according to a report by CJAD.

La Ronde, which is following in the footsteps of other Six Flags parks that are using a fingerprint scanner system for season-pass holders, says the technology will keep queues to a minimum and prevent season passes from being shared.

La Ronde is required by law to declare the system to the Commission d’accès à l’information du Quebec.

According to Boris Perron with the provincial access to information commission, Six Flags lawyers contacted the department after they installed the system to comply with the law “within a few days.” But Perron says they did not know the regulations because Quebec has its own unique set of laws.
And while La Ronde will not be forced to destroy data already collected, the park is required to explain how the data will be used and get consent from customers to be in accordance with provincial regulations.

La Ronde spokesman Jules Hébert says the amusement park consulted with legal experts at parent-company Six Flags and they believe they are not in breach of any laws.

“We’re not talking about fingerprints, but a finger scan to identify points on your finger that will generate a mathematical formula,” says Hébert. “The formula will be saved on local servers. The way it’s encrypted, the data can’t be used for any purpose other than identifying season-pass holders.”

Article Topics

biometrics  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  fingerprint scanner  |  privacy