John,
Amidst the heaviness and heartbreak of this time, we wanted to share a small ray of light in the ongoing fight against surveillance and oppressive technologies: we’ve succeeded in pushing Red Rocks Amphitheater to abandon Amazon palm scanning as a ticketing option for events.
Thanks to supporters like you, we've been building a steady drum beat of pressure on the venue with hundreds of tweets, emails, and letters1 signed over the last couple of months. And while entertainment companies are trying to sell palm scanning as “convenient” and safe, our relentless mobilizing has forced Red Rocks to face the truth about this tech: there’s absolutely nothing convenient about Amazon’s biometric surveillance tools.
Red Rocks’ decision to ditch Amazon palm scanning is an enormous win for music fans’ safety and the larger fight against biometric tech. But unfortunately, we know the ticketing company AXS is trying to bring palm scanning to a number of new venues as we speak. So we’re doubling down on our calls for AXS, its parent company AEG, other entertainment companies and venues everywhere to abandon biometric data collection tools once and for all––and we need you to join us.
Add your name to the open letter calling on venues and entertainment industry groups to ditch Amazon palm scanning and all forms of biometric technology at live events.
SIGN NOW
Recently we learned about a couple of disturbing examples of the spread of this tech within the live entertainment world: Mission Ballroom in Denver has been added to the “locations” section which suggests the venue is now offering Amazon palm scanning for ticketing, and an article in Biometrics Update suggests that Livenation/Ticketmaster has quietly introduced face scanning (i.e. facial recognition) for ticketing and event entry.2
As scary as these developments are, we’ve seen what’s possible when we mobilize together to fight biometric surveillance. Keep the pressure on companies and venues that are blatantly disregarding the safety and privacy of fans: Add your name to the open letter calling on all entertainment companies, including AXS and AEG, to immediately abandon biometric data collection tools once and for all.
With gratitude and hope,
Leila and the Team at Fight
Footnotes:
1) https://www.amazondoesntrock.com/#letter
2) https://www.biometricupdate.com/202112/biometrics-could-make-attending-large-event-venues-a-whole-new-ballgame
Fight for the Future works to protect your rights in the digital age.
