How Taylor Swift showed us the scary future of facial recognition

Surveillance at concerts is just the beginning, as fears grow around an unregulated, billion-dollar industry

Taylor Swift raised eyebrows late last year when Rolling Stone magazine revealed her security team had deployed facial recognition recognition technology during her Reputation tour to root out stalkers. But the company contracted for the efforts uses its technology to provide much more than just security. ISM Connect also uses its smart screens to capture metrics for promotion and marketing.

Facial recognition, used for decades by law enforcement and militaries, is quickly becoming a commercial tool to help brands engage consumers. Swift's tour is just the latest example of the growing privacy concerns around the largely unregulated, billion-dollar industry.