INAI will investigate the FMF for Fan ID to enter the stadiums

The head of the agency warned about the use of facial recognition, which is prohibited and cannot be used for any type of registration

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The tragedy that occurred at the Corregidora Stadium in Querétaro has led to the implementation of changes promoted by the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) to seek the safety of fans. One of the most important will be the use of Fan ID.

This register works with the personal data provided by the attendees, as well as their photograph and their ticket, as well as the use of facial recognition and biometric data for, which have been constantly criticized for the ease with which each person's information can be extracted.

For this reason, the National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (INAI), on March 22, alerted the FMF to this aspect and urged it to carry out a security protocol in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Law on the Protection of Personal Data in the Possession of Individuals (LFPDPPP).

However, the Federation ignored and did not report to the federal agency, so it initiated an investigation ex officio into the implementation of Fan ID, which has been raised since last January.

(Photo: Inai)
The IANAI alerted the FMF to the danger of Fan ID since March 22 (Photo: INAI)

Francisco Javier Acuña, INAI commissioner, said he understands the use of this pre-game registry, but noted that they are prone to violating security protocols. In addition, he said that he has requirements, such as facial recognition, that do not have the optimal parameters to safeguard the safety of the fan.

The point is that the Federation never came to INAI to expose that situation, it never came to tell us 'hey, we are going to want to implement this, what do we do? Tell us, help us', nothing. So much expectation, so much concern, the importance of this matter began to grow. Then, unfortunately, the Federation also said that they were going to apply facial recognition for admission, and also for minors. With so many such statements, INAI launched an ex officio investigation that is now ongoing.” the official said in an interview with ESPN.

Acuña was incisive with facial recognition and warned that “they allow many additional uses to the one sought to obtain them.” He also recalled that this method of obtaining biometric data is prohibited “to be applied to third parties even though they have some knowledge of what will happen to it”.

Later, he called this requirement “dangerous” and asserted that it cannot be used for any registration of attendees to mass events.

Queretaro vs Atlas - Batalla Campal Mexican football
The Federation seeks greater security measures in order to avoid a tragedy such as that of the Corregidora Stadium (Photo: EFE/Sebastián Laureano Miranda)

“Facial recognition is still an exploration of a find to open your front door, for issues that are restricted to headlines. Facial recognition is a field that can be commented on as dangerous and not for any type of cause will it be possible to apply without reason or without reason to thousands of potential participants,” he said.

Finally, he classified this requirement as “reasonable”, since there are others such as security arches, seat registration and use of cameras, but he recalled that in the end those involved in an altercation will have to declare in what capacity they participated.

So far, the Mexican Football Federation has not positioned itself in this regard, but Javier Acuña himself said that together with authorities from the Liga Mx he requested a meeting with INAI to discuss the issue.

“It won't take long to happen because it is clear that the Mexican Federation, the League, the clubs want to meet and they have been sending us messages, good thing, because that way we can help them to get things done well in the end,” he said.

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