It’s a biometric world after all: Disney offers facial matching for California park entry

Disney has deployed facial biometrics for the majority of entry lanes at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.

A notice on the brand’s website says the technology is set up at the entrances to Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park, to facilitate ease of reentry and help cut down on fraud. Using the facial recognition lanes is optional.

The biometric access control system captures face biometrics at the entrance and “the image of your face that was saved when you first used the ticket or pass,” then uses software to convert those images into unique numerical values. Matching involves comparing the numerical values. In terms of data retention, “except in cases where data must be maintained for legal or fraud-prevention purposes,” Disney will delete all numerical values within 30 days of creation.

The notice does not specify retention policies for the images themselves, or which biometrics providers have been engaged to support the system.

Disney will still take your picture if you use the standard entry lanes. “However, these lanes will not utilize biometric technology on your image. Instead, a Cast Member will manually validate your ticket.”

Despite the collection of biometric data, “children under the age of 18 may use this service with the consent of a parent or guardian.”

Disney has trialled facial recognition at its resorts before, first in 2021 at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, then in 2024 at Disney California Adventure. All of the parks run by its competitor, Universal Orlando, have had facial recognition as an entry option since 2023.

Coverage in the Los Angeles Times notes the concern from privacy rights groups and academics. It quotes Ari Waldman, a professor of law at UC Irvine, who says “the normalization of facial surveillance is really problematic. We can’t go around life hiding our faces, so this isn’t just the next step in surveillance; it’s qualitatively different. In a world of facial recognition, when people leave their house, it automatically means they’re identified.”

Los Angeles will host the 2028 Olympic Games, and the American Civil Liberties Union has raised concerns about how facial recognition and other biometric tracking technologies could be used to police the global event.

Article Topics

access control  |  biometrics  |  Disney  |  facial recognition  |  visitor management