SAN FRANCISCO, CA––The Mix Bar becomes the next to hit “pause” on face scanning

Earlier today, the Bay Area Reporter reported that The Mix Bar is following the steps of Badlands and Toad Hall, in hitting “pause” on face scanning. The bar will deactivate its live camera function, but will continue to use PatronScan to verify official IDs.

The Mix Bar’s reversal comes after several prominent Bay Area artists and venues, including most recently Bottom of the Hill in the Potrero Hill district of San Francisco, have taken a pledge to disallow AI surveillance and facial recognition at their shows and establishments. This move now isolates Oracle Park and 1015 Folsom, the remaining SF venues known to use this face scanning technology, according to the “Club 1984” surveillance tracker developed by AI Action.

Digital rights group Fight for the Future, who organized the boycott campaign, issued the following statement, which can be attributed to the group’s director, transgender musician Evan Greer (she/her):

“The Mix Bar’s decision is a huge step in the right direction. The reality is surveillance takes its own victims. It’s no secret the federal government has put a large target on the LGBTQ+ community especially the trans community. To allow for any third-party surveillance of the queer and trans community is simply too dangerous and too risky in this political environment. Queer spaces are meant to be joyous and safe, and nothing kills the vibe more quickly than AI surveillance. Let this be a teaching moment for any establishment that surveillance does not make us safer.”

A representative from the group AI Action (@aiactionnow), which created the nightclub surveillance tracking website called “Club 1984” issued the following response:

“We’re pleased that the Mix is now refraining from taking pictures of each patron, but we’re still concerned that the ID scanners effectively act as a database of LGBTQ+ people in the Castro, storing their name, address, gender, and DOB. Have any of these venue owners read 1984? As AI enables far more powerful surveillance, we are determined to fight its intrusion into our lives on every front”

Fight for the Future is continuing its campaign against the use of AI surveillance in concert venues, bars, and places of public accommodation, including the other 38 establishments reportedly using face scanners. See the latest signers on the pledge here: https://www.banfacialrecognition.com/venues . Artists that have signed the pledge include Tune Yards, Deerhoof, and members of Rage Against the Machine and Bikini Kill. Bay Area venues Bottom of the Hill, El Rio, Sour Cherry Comics, La Peña Cultural Center, DNA Lounge, and Cheaper than Therapy have signed the pledge committing to never use this type of tech on patrons.

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