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What will the NFL’s league-wide facial recognition policy look like inside U.S. Bank Stadium?
“That’s what’s actually being used in Minnesota, the Vikings are using that just for credentialing,” Jeff Boehm, COO of Wicket, said.
MINNEAPOLIS — With the NFL’s return this Thursday on KARE 11, there’s plenty of discussion already happening about the league. There are the usual conversations – who’s starting and who’s out, which teams will make the playoffs – but there’s a new layer this year.
What will privacy look like under the NFL’s new facial recognition policy at stadiums across the league?
“It can be misused very easily, but at the same token, it is very beneficial to help secure these areas, to help ensure that people can get in and out quickly,” Eric Ebner, chief technological officer at 360 Security Services, said. “And it is, it is a technological benefit.”
Ebner said this change makes sense, as hundreds of thousands of fans flock to NFL stadiums on gameday.
“You look at other alternatives, a key card, a PIN code, those have a logistic burden. Key cards are notoriously able to be copied with, you know, things you can purchase off the internet. So if you’re able to see, ‘oh, hey, that person has press credentials,’ you get close to them, you could copy that key code,” Ebner said. “Now you’ve got those press credentials. It’s much harder to copy their face and to spoof the systems that provide facial recognition.”
That security is top of mind for the people working on this program with the NFL. Jeff Boehm is the chief operating officer at Wicket, a company using facial recognition software at stadiums and venues around the world.
Boehm said there’s been some miscommunication shared on what their technology does.
“That’s what’s actually being used in Minnesota, the Vikings are using that just for credentialing,” he said. “They’re not using it for anything fan-facing at this point.”
That means that for those just looking to watch the Vikings play, this won’t impact you. At U.S. Bank Stadium, the only people this affects are those who require a credential.
“The NFL league-wide program is not for fans, so fans don’t even have a choice of participating in that,” Boehm said.
“There is a misconception out there that says we’re scanning everybody within the stadium. We are not doing that. It is only at points of entry or at points of purchase for fans who choose to opt into this program,” Boehm continued. “And again, that’s not happening in Minnesota at all, because the Vikings right now are only using it for the NFL credentialing program.”
In stadiums where this is happening with fans – Boehm said the Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons both participate – fans still have the option to choose if they share that facial data.
Some have already chosen to opt-out who are not fans. The Las Vegas Police Protection Association has declined to share that data.
“It was just a lot for us, for officers that are already vetted, verified and confirmed who they are, to come to work an event and say, well, we need enhanced security against you guys as well,” Steve Grammas, president of the LVPPA, said.
Its officers chose to not be scanned ahead of the Las Vegas Raiders preseason games last month. Grammas said despite their opt-out, nothing changed.
“Our Sheriff is standing side by side and shoulder to shoulder with us on this topic. But here’s what’s going to happen, the same thing that’s happened with the last two preseason games. We’re going to go there. We’re not going to have biometric data. We’re not going to be scanned,” Grammas said. “We’re going to go in there. We’re going to do our job, and we’re going to secure the facility.”
Grammas said their concerns stem from how the facial data is stored, and for how long.
“Once we started digging into this and then having conversations with the agency, we made it very clear that there was big problems with us turning over biometric data, what they could do with that data, how long they would store it, who they may give it to,” he said.
KARE 11 has reached out to the Minneapolis Police Department for their stance on this topic but has not heard back at the time of this article’s publishing.
Boehm emphasized that data is secure, saying data is removed if fans opt-out.
“That data is stored securely. It’s not sold or given to any third parties for marketing uses or for data analytics or aggregation purposes for anything else,” Boehm said. “It is only kept for the purposes of, again, expediting entry into the stadium or speeding up your concessions purchases.”
Gary Peterson and his friends are collecting donations to help people in their community.
ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — A St. Louis Park pumpkin display is raising money for their local food shelf.
Gary Peterson started carving and painting three pumpkins over a decade ago. It’s now grown to over 100.
“I’ve heard people say they’ve come from Hutchinson,” he said.
Peterson along with two of his neighbors have spent the last 14 years growing their display, turning it into a neighborhood event.
“It’s been incredible, I just can’t believe how much this has expanded,” he said. “We did it just because we like to and then people were asking to give us money to cover the cost.”
The trio refused to take people’s money, but then one of them had an idea.
“My neighbor, Steve Leensvaart, just mentioned how about we just do it for the STEP program and the STEP program is our local food shelf in St. Louis Park,” he said.
So, they started to collect donations to help families in need. They’ve raised hundreds of dollars and donated hundreds of pounds of food over the last few years, carving for a cause.
“It is more gratifying every year,” Peterson said.
He estimated they have over 100 unique pumpkins in their yard. They’ve created the displays and come up with new family-friendly concepts for people to enjoy. Peterson said about 30 of their neighbors carved their own pumpkins to be put on display, and it’s been a big hit.
“It’s great. In the last couple of years, it’s turned into more of a neighborhood event,” said Sarah Durch.
“We love this Halloween display, we come every year to see it. We love that the whole community gets involved to craft and carve the pumpkins,” said Jami Gordon-Smith.
“The shading and the details are unbelievable,” said Elizabeth Hanson.
Hanson hopes to take her 2-year-old son trick or treating for the first time but is worried the cold temperatures might keep them indoors.
“We’re going trick or treating hopefully,” she said. “He’s going to be a firefighter, but we’re probably going to have sweatshirts maybe like two pairs of sweatpants underneath. We’re going to be bundled up.”
Gordon-Smith said her family will be out Halloween night no matter the weather.
“Halloween only comes once a year, so you really have to take advantage and enjoy the evening no matter what the weather brings,” she said. “Guess it’s not totally unheard of in Minnesota to have a cold Halloween, but we are going to try and modify and do a lot of layers underneath our costumes and then we might add some hats and maybe some warmer socks.”
Durch also isn’t surprised they’re in for another chilly night.
“Well, what would Halloween be without Minnesota cold? I feel like every time you plan a costume you have to plan for how you can make this work if it’s snowing,” she said.
Peterson said they will have a bonfire and some hot chocolate and cider on Halloween to keep trick-or-treaters warm while they look at their pumpkins.
Click here to learn where you can see the pumpkins and how you can donate.
Jeremy Jourdain was 17 when he was last seen on Halloween 2016.
BEMIDJI, Minn. — The search for Jeremy Jourdain, who was last seen on Halloween in 2016, continues now eight years later.
Jourdain was last seen at a family member’s house in Bemidji, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs. He left the residence near the 500 block of Wood Avenue after midnight and while people followed him, no one was able to find him.
Jourdain was 17 at the time.
Officials said he was wearing a blue and grey sweatshirt, and blue jeans when last seen. He is Native American and is described as 6 foot 5 and 175 pounds.
If you have any information on his whereabouts, you can contact the Bemidji Police Department at (218) 333-9111. Tips can also be sent to 1-833-560-2065, or you can email ojs_mmu@bia.gov.
The organizations say many Asian Americans are planning to vote despite lack of candidate outreach.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Most people have been contacted in some way shape or form by a campaign in the last few weeks. And if the polls are right and the race for president is a dead heat, every vote will matter.
That’s why this is a head scratcher:
According to a September 2024 voter survey by Asian American Pacific Islander Data, 27% of Asian-American voters said they hadn’t been contacted by either political party trying to get their vote. Last spring, earlier in the voting season, it was even more – 42%.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the fastest growing racial or ethnic group nationwide.
Their voter participation levels are growing too, with 60% of eligible Asian-American voters turning out in 2020. And AAPI Data reports as many as 90% of Asian Americans they surveyed said they plan to vote this cycle.
“Candidates are not reaching out to Asian Americans, which is a huge mistake,” said ThaoMee Xiong, executive and networking director of the Coalition of Asian American Leaders.
She says even though there are more than 200,000 eligible Asian voters in Minnesota, the Asian vote is under-appreciated.
“Neither the Democratic or Republican parties have been reaching out in huge numbers,” Xiong said. “They’re sending general mailers to everyone but … they need it in their native language.”
That’s why CAAL is partnering with two more organizations to keep voter turnout high and reach anyone candidates or advocates missed.
Xor Xiong is from Asian American Organizing Project, which focuses on engaging metro-area teens and young adults.
“Many of our communities are still facing barriers to go to vote,” he said. “There’s been more times than I like to admit in terms of when I was having a conversation over the phones of voters being surprised that they can take time off to go and vote, or they can bring the kids to the polling locations, or they can even bring someone to translate for them.”
“In Ramsey County, because of the large Hmong American population there, the polls in Ramsey County are federally required to provide interpreters and translated materials,” ThaoMee added.
Their nonpartisan campaign, Get Out the Vote for Asian Minnesotans, aims to get people registered and well-informed.
“Throughout Covid, there was a lot of anti-hate around the AAPI community and we are still feeling the impact of that to this day,” said Amanda Xiong, a community organizer with a group known as CAPI USA. “Even if folks are afraid to go to the polls, due to that, we try our best to then educate them around absentee ballots, voting early.”
“And so yes, there is a huge increase in terms of voter turnout, but then why is it still 70% feel as though they don’t belong?”
In 2021, the FBI reported a 168% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes.
In Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center, the groups knocked on at least 700 doors in one session alone while keeping safety top of mind.
“We make sure that there’s a car following all the door knockers,” ThaoMee said. “We put everyone on text chain … and we are putting a lot of precautionary measures in place for the day of voting.”
After the election, the CAAL plans to conduct surveys and send the results to county election officials. They’ve done this before and say it led to policy changes this year at the legislature including measures to ensure people have easier access to interpreters.
Suspect “led us to the evidence” in Montana camper’s brutal killing, initially thought to have been bear attack
Long Prairie, MN school board dismisses its superintendent, the latest controversy in this small town
Snow and rain on Halloween
Suspect “led us to the evidence” in Montana camper’s brutal killing, initially thought to have been bear attack
Long Prairie, MN school board dismisses its superintendent, the latest controversy in this small town