Disneyland Is The Latest To Implement Facial Recognition In The Parks | Is This A Good Idea?

Added: 2026-04-29

[00:00:03]What's up everybody? It's Jared with Capture the Magic. And with the growing presence of AI and really things tracking you at every moment of every day, whether it's on your phone or going to a store and now going to a theme park, facial recognition and things tracking your movements is becoming a very common thing. But apparently out in Disneyland, they now have facial recognition scanners that are essentially scanning you at every gate and sparking some privacy concerns that the Los Angeles Times is talking about.

[00:00:35]So facial recognition in the theme parks isn't necessarily new as Universal Orlando does a lot of it, but this is kind of new that at least I've heard from Disney, especially Disneyland here.

[00:00:46]So in this video, we're going to go through what this is. Is this different?

[00:00:49]Is this something to be concerned about?

[00:00:51]And where does this go from here?

[00:00:53]Because I don't believe this is going to be slowing down anytime soon.

[00:00:58]All right, like I said, this is from the Los Angeles Times, and it says, "Dland is now scanning your face at nearly every gate, sparking privacy concerns."

[00:01:07]Says, "There's nothing quite as identifiable as a face." It's very true.

[00:01:13]Retailers use facial recognition technology to more easily nab shoplifterss. Casinos have deployed it to keep card counters away. Even a popular New York City venue allegedly uses it to blackball people its millionaire owner considers adversaries.

[00:01:29]So it comes as no surprise to many Disneyland guests that is now being used at the entrance to the happiest place on earth. Photographs of guest faces taken at the entrances to Disneyland and Sister Park California Adventure are run through biometric technology to convert the images into unique numerical values.

[00:01:47]The images can then be compared with pictures taken when a customer first used the ticket or annual pass. Disney officials say the technology helps make entering and re-entering the park easier and prevents fraud. But the rapid growth of facial recognition over the last decade has raised concerns among privacy experts who caution that such data can easily be turned over to law enforcement entities and make companies hacking targets.

[00:02:13]I honestly it's a very valid concern especially when you're talking about AI and this stuff and how quickly this is moving. Anthropic which is the claw AI they have this new version of their AI.

[00:02:26]I think it's called Majestic if I remember correctly. I can't remember the exact name of it but they're currently holding it back from being released because apparently its ability to hack major infrastructure systems is essentially considered dangerous. like it is so good at doing it that essentially any system on earth right now would be vulnerable to it. So when you're talking about facial recognition, you can make arguments that you know it does this, it makes it easier, it prevents fraud, things of that nature, but it does open up to what if these things are hacked and what will people do with that information? And it's not really an if it's hacked at this point, it's probably a when it's hacked because these things are constantly being hacked. And I think uh not only is AI an issue in terms of what it can do going forward impacting jobs, but obviously when you're talking about the hacking end of things, if that's unleashed on stuff, essentially anything and everything at any moment could be hacked if somebody has the will to do it. And I think that's a lot of the issues and dangers that go along with some of this stuff. Venues over the last decade have increasingly begun to lean on facial recognition to speed up entry and purchases for guests. At Inuit Dome, visitors can use Game Face ID to more quickly enter the stadium for Clippers games or live entertainment. To use it, the guest needs to upload a selfie and the technology generates face recognition data to identify them at the arena. The venue's privacy policy states they quote may also infer whether you are over 21 from your selfie photo.

[00:03:57]That's kind of crazy. Dodger Stadium also employs facial recognition technology for guests who want to use the go-ahad entry at certain gates into the ballpark. The technology allows parkgoers to enter without having to produce a physical or digital ticket.

[00:04:11]Some groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have raised concerns about the possibility of facial recognition and other biometric tracking technologies being used at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. But at Disneyland on Friday, vacationers in matching t-shirts, toddlers in princess dresses, and mouse-eared parents pushing strollers made their way through security checkpoints, giving little attention to signs posted nearby, notifying guests of the theme park's new facial recognition policy, says, quote, "Use of this technology is optional. The signs adorned with red, green, yellow, and blue Mickey Mouse silhouettes reads, the majority of the lines into the theme parks use facial recognition technology.

[00:04:51]Guests who don't want to run their face through the technology can enter through a separate entrance marked with a silhouette of a head and shoulders with a slash through it. Of the dozens of lines to enter Disneyland and California Adventure, there were only four on Friday that didn't use facial recognition.

[00:05:07]Guests in those lines still have their photos taken, but the company said biometric technology wasn't used.

[00:05:12]Instead, an employee was seen manually validating tickets. And I think that comes into a trust factor. Do you actually think that they're taking your picture and not using the biometric data with it? Maybe they are. I'm just simply saying I don't trust companies or major corporations. So, it's one of those things where you could sit there and say that, then a couple years go by and go, "Well, by the way, we did run it through the biometric technology. Oops. Our bad." That wouldn't surprise me one bit.

[00:05:44]Facial recognition technology has long been criticized for making mistakes.

[00:05:48]Research found that systems were less likely to accurately classify the faces of women with darker complexions and that certain makeup patterns could render the technology null. There's also a risk of data breaches. Experts say if you collect this type of data, you have put a target on your back for people to steal it, said Adam Schwarz, privacy litigation director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The nonprofit, which opposes government use of facial recognition data, has advocated for strengthening laws to protect consumers when the technology is used by private businesses. Parkgoers who swarmed the entrance to Main Street on Friday morning as the cheery tune to It's a Small World played on the speakers outside the theme park seemed to pay little attention to the technology. Many who spoke to the Times said deciding between the more than a dozen lines to enter the theme park came down to a simple calculation. Which queue had the fewest people? Disney's data privacy policy notes that the numerical values created by the technology are deleted within 30 days unless they need to be kept for legal or fraud prevention purposes. Yet again, kind of goes into a trust factor. Do you are they doing that? Perhaps they are, but that is asking a lot of trust of a major company taking your face and using it as a way to identify you of being able to do certain things like going to a theme park or maybe they eventually tie it to purchasing things. I mean, this is where it kind of starts getting a little Minority Reportish, I guess you could say, in many ways about like what are you going to be able to do with this tech? What do they want to do with it?

[00:07:17]And then what are the safety precautions around it? Says, quote, "We have implemented technical, administrative, and physical security measures that are designed to protect guest information from unauthorized access, disclosure, use, and modification. From time to time, we review our security procedures to consider new technology and methods as appropriate." The notice reads, "Please be aware that despite our best efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable."

[00:07:43]Basically telling you like, "Well, we're going to do our best, but we we may not be able to stop this." Sandra Contrarus isn't as concerned about using the technology for herself, but wonders what the future implications might be for her 5-year-old daughter and infant son. When the family recently visited the park, she felt as though she didn't have an option to opt out of the technology for her daughter. When it came to me, I just did it, she said. But when they were going to do it for her, it freaked me out a little bit, to be honest. I mean, I felt like we had to do it, so she did it. But I think it's more concerning for children just to protect their privacy.

[00:08:19]Well, and that's the thing there, too.

[00:08:20]It's like these things need to be known that like you can opt out of them. Now, all cards on the table. Universal does this as well and they've been doing this for years and you can opt out of these things but it's not really let known in many ways when people do want to opt out of it they're seen as being kind of a a nuisance about this like oh you're being difficult about this if people want to use their face if they're okay with that whatever that's fine but if there's are people that don't want to do that you know it should be really clear that you don't have to do this and there should be ample lines that also don't do it because if let's say there's 12 lines and 10 of them are for facial recognition, two are not. And then essentially, if you don't want your face to be scanned, at least in their system to be kept for biometrics, you're almost punished because that line could be longer or whatever the case may be. So, personally, I think before you start any of this conversation, there needs to be clear signage and clear communication that these things can be opted out of and you would have you're well within your rights to do so. Now, the other part about this is they're a private company. It's on private property. If they did make this where it was mandatory, I mean, at some point, if you want to go to the parks and this is what they require, you know, it's a personal choice. I suppose going to a theme park is not a inherent right. It is something that you pay the privilege to be able to do. And so this is I think the worry of this could start where yeah you can opt out of this but eventually do they make this stuff where you can't opt out of it because there are legitimate security concerns especially getting you know biometric data tied to people especially when you're talking about children and I think that's a very valid concern about what is done with this data how well is it being protected and if so if if there's a breach do they let you know and really what can you do at that point and and so I'm not going to sit here act like that, you know, Disney doing this is out of the realm of possibilities as Universal's been doing as well and a lot of companies are doing this. But I think the more and more this continues to go, it does become a worry, especially with AI out there and what its ability to do with hacking things and then this of course at some point whether now or in the future is also going to be tied to AI systems that are in theme parks. And also don't forget Universal has a patent out there talking, you know, a way to mitigate bad guest behavior. And one of the things it does, it can tell if you've had too much to drink, which I'm sure that's going to be using facial recognition. So Disney's probably going to do something very similar in the park. So while they may not be scanning your face in the parks yet, I think that is coming. And you know, it's listen, this is all uncharted territory. There's no handbook for this stuff. Obviously, companies want to use these things in many ways because it's easier for them to not only get you into the park. I I don't think we should be surprised by this, and I'm not saying there's any evidence of this, but I'm just going to sit here and say I think it's a really good possibility that they will also use this type of technology to track you around theme parks to know where you go, how do you flow through the park. They want as much data that they can get on guests and how they navigate these parks to try and make more money, get you to buy more things, buy food items here. I mean, Disney years ago had a patent that actually identified your shoes when you walked into the park and could track you around the park by the shoes you were wearing. So, this is nothing new that they would want to track you around the park. And really, if you can figure out the best way guests flow through a park, you see bottlenecks, you see issues. You know, these this is data that they would want to use. So, I don't think it's a stretch to say they could use this data in other ways. And I think eventually this stuff does get tied to purchases. I won't be shocked at all because you even can do that with fingerprint technology or, you know, on your phone or on your computer to bypass passwords and things.

[00:12:11]So, if this technology is used to purchase things and let's say that the facial recognition is really not quite secure or maybe it's not 100% accurate, are you going to get things purchased by your account that you didn't do? Could people hack it and use a facial recognition biometric numbers or whatever it is to do other things?

[00:12:31]Like, this is where it gets really scary. Then you couple this with AI and people, let's say they hack it, they can take it to AI, upload a photo. Like there's a lot of things they could do with this in the future that you're not even thinking about right now. And so I think as much as this has become a common occurrence, I mean, iPhones and phones use facial recognition to unlock them. You know, again, Universal's been doing this at theme parks, other places have been doing this with facial recognition. But the more that this becomes just an everyday thing. you're just like, well, you know, it's just another thing that uses it. I can understand the convenience of it and people just being like, well, I guess I'll use it because more than likely, and let's be honest, if you're not, you know, you opt out of this at a theme park, your face has probably been scanned by a lot of different places.

[00:13:15]Like, your data is probably out there without you even knowing it, which is also scary. So, it it's just one of these things where I think there should be options. I'm not saying that you have to get rid of facial recognition or it should be completely banished. I don't like it. But obviously these are private companies. They can do these types of things that they want. But I do think that consumers should be informed clearly, not feel pressured and have options if they don't want to go down this path, especially with kids, and not treated badly. And I'm not saying that they have been, but I'm just saying that's how this I I believe it should be treated where you have an option here to opt out of this and not feeling like you're being a, you know, difficult consumer if you don't want your face scanned into a system because let's be honest, they can sit here and tell you that these things are deleted within 30 days or they're not going to use it for other things. But we've seen this play out over time where, you know, data gets breached, it's sold to other companies.

[00:14:09]You know, this stuff does happen. I'm not going to be surprised one bit in the coming years if you hear about a company getting in trouble because they sold your data to some other company for a ton of money. Now, I'm not saying Disney or Universal will do that, but I'm not going to be surprised if other companies and places eventually do this and probably have already done this. So, I think it's legitimate concerns about privacy. And in this day and age, it's only going to continue to be more of a concern as there's even techn I think there's a law now talking about new cars are going to scan your face and you could have your car shut down if it doesn't meet certain parameters, which is terrifying. If you're in a emergency situation, you you've got to get somewhere quickly. Let's say somebody's injured and you can't get your car to go because the facial recognition won't let you do it. So these things, it's getting very dystopian in many ways about a lot of this technology. And so many ways it can make life easier. It can make entrance into theme parks much smoother and easier. But there's also downsides and really dangers to this. And it's just one of those things where you just hope this isn't being rushed into. And you know, Disney's not the first to do this, nor will they be the last to do this. It's just one of those things where you just look at this like, can you really do anything about this? I mean, you're almost if if you're against this, you're kind of standing against a tidal wave coming at you. I mean, there's even scary stuff about AI voice cloners that are calling people sounding like a loved one even from their number and it's not them. And that's just with AI voice stuff. You don't even throw in the biometric things with this. So, that that gets really scary with, you know, coupling with the technology of what some of this breached data could do in the future. And that gets really weird.

[00:15:48]So, uh, my plan is to buy a compound in the middle of nowhere and just kind of unplug eventually. That's kind of my retirement plan and just get out of the grid as much as I can, be on my own in the middle of nowhere. I can see people coming from 360° and try and escape, I suppose, the matrix in some way that way. But if you're looking to go to theme parks, really interact with day-to-day life, especially in a bigger city, more than likely your face has been and will continue to be scanned. And what happens with that, I think, is really up for debate. And um, you know, it could have some weird implications down the road.

[00:16:25]But if you are looking to go to Disneyland, obviously this is something new there. And more than likely, this is going to come to Disney World because if it's going to be in one park, I'm sure they're going to do it in another. And so this is only going to continue to grow.

[00:16:38]and you know, you're going to a theme park, you're just there to have a good time. You're not really thinking about this end of things. I can understand why people just do it and they just go, "Okay, whatever." You know, I just want to go have fun at a theme park, but there could be some other implications behind it. I don't really know what you do about it other than voice your opinion and hope that these things don't spin out of control. This data isn't breached and used for nefarious means, but I suppose time will tell on this.

[00:17:02]And when there's any more information about this coming to other parks or Disney World, which I think probably more than likely coming very soon to Disney World as well, we'll be sure to talk about here and let you know about it. But for now, that's going to be it though for this video. So, if you like this video, please like it and subscribe to the channel as we do all this coverage here of Universal Studios, Epic Universe, Disney World, and Pop Culture.

[00:17:20]And let us know in the comments what do you think about all this. And until next time, we will see you in the parks.

[00:17:28]Heat. Heat.