Stadium Virus Prevention Steers Spotlight Toward Fan Privacy

The metal detectors that greet sports fans at the gates might soon be accompanied by thermal body scanners. This is part of the big task of better protecting venues from virus spread in order to bring the games back for in-person viewing. As algorithms shape more of daily life, the issue of tracking has become more prominent. Most of this tech-based activity at a stadium would only be collected in aggregate, like an elevated skin temperature flagged during a walk through a thermal scanner. That’s not a piece of data tied to someone’s actual identity.