The Pokémon Company will use facial recognition in Pokémon TCG shops to deter scalpers
The Pokémon Company plans to deploy facial recognition technology in Pokémon Trading Card Game retail shops as a measure to identify and deter scalpers from bulk-buying card products. The move marks one of the first uses of biometric surveillance in a consumer hobby retail context for inventory fairness purposes.
Why this matters: Stopping scalpers is a sympathetic goal. Nobody likes missing out on cards because someone bought the whole shelf to flip online. But facial recognition in a card shop is a significant step. Your face is not a loyalty card you can cancel. Every casual shopper becomes enrolled in a biometric system just to buy a hobby product. The company gets to decide who gets flagged, how long the data is kept, and what else it might be used for later. The problem being solved is real. The tool being used is permanent.
Who should care: Privacy officers · Cybersecurity · General readers · Policy
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