The Walt Disney Co. was hit by a new class action lawsuit — with park visitors alleging the company is illegally collecting their biometric information.
Specifically, the suit cites Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park, saying they are not properly disclosing the company’s biometric collection policies for adult and child visitors, USA Today reported.
Class members are seeking $5 million in damages through the lawsuit, which also suggests that Disney should require written consent from visitors before implementing facial recognition technology, the outlet said.
Disney has allegedly started using facial recognition at park entrances — but did not disclose this to visitors.
There is a separate entrance at the parks for those who do not want to opt-in to the facial recognition technology.
“While Disney publicly states ‘[t]he security, integrity, and confidentiality of your information are extremely important to us, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable,’ it appears visitors cannot discern which of the entrances into Disney Theme Parks actually are the ones to clearly avoid to ‘opt-out’ of facial recognition,” the suit says, according to USA Today.
The company also uses biometrics for its Magic Band and PhotoPass programs, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Disney has claimed that it deletes biometric data after 30 days. But the lawsuit alleges that, because the company acknowledges that it compares entry scans to photos uploaded when passes are purchased, the timeframe seems inaccurate, the outlet reported.