Frequently asked questions

Facial Recognition technology (FRT) can be used to identify people of interest as they the Empire Casino in London. Cameras are positioned at the entrance which record live images of visitors as they enter, there is also a camera at the cash desk. In real-time, the images are scanned using sophisticated algorithms to pick out distinguishing features which are used to identify whether the image matches anyone within our database of people of interest.

Importantly, the technology does not identify everyone that enters the venue, it will only identify a relatively small number of people whose image we have previously recorded within our database. These are individuals who have previously been barred from one of our venues and individuals who have registered with SENSE (Self-Enrolment National Self-Exclusion).

As we don’t require visitors to register and check-in when entering the venue, we need to take other actions to ensure it is a safe place for staff and visitors.

When we use facial recognition technology, there are two types of visitors that we are trying to identify:

• People who have voluntarily registered with SENSE at one of our venues. When someone registers with SENSE they provide a photo so that we can identify them and exclude them from entering our venues.
• People who have been barred from entering our venues. If someone has engaged in criminal behaviour, cheating or other disruptive behaviours we may exclude them from entering our premises.

In both cases we are obliged to prevent entry. We do not operate a database of images of everyone who enters the venue within the FRT system, just those that we need to exclude.

The cameras will capture images of everyone that enters the venue; much like CCTV. These are effectively turned into datapoints that describe key features. These images / datapoints only associate to a name if the individual is held within our database as excluded.

If an individual is identified using the facial recognition technology, then a member of staff will also review other relevant data that we hold on record (e.g. their gaming account and/or the SENSE registration).

If the facial recognition technology identifies a potential match, then a member of the venue management team will compare the image taken by the FRT cameras against the image we hold on record.

If the member of staff believes that the match is accurate, they will make contact with the identified person to confirm their identity and potentially ask them to leave the venue if it is determined that they should be excluded.

Whenever an organisation processes personal data of any kind, they must determine a lawful basis and implement appropriate safeguards to ensure the data is protected and not misused.

We take data privacy and protection very seriously, as such we have identified and embedded key controls to ensure the data is safe.

Our Lawful Basis / Purpose

Biometric data is a type of sensitive personal data known as ‘special category data’. This means we have to be extra vigilant when processing it and identify additional ‘lawful bases’.

Our purpose here is two-fold:

We use the FRT to identify people who have been barred because we have a duty to protect consumers and staff, prevent money laundering and ensure fair play. These duties form part of our licensing conditions and are set out within the Gambling Act 2005.

We also use FRT to identify people who have self-excluded from our licensed casinos (the SENSE list). When joining SENSE, the individual provides a photo so that we can identify them and exclude them from venues to protect their welfare. Only individuals who have joined SENSE at one of our venues are included.

This does not mean that we have an absolute legal obligation to operate FRT, however we believe FRT represents the most effective way to meet our obligations. The manner in which we operate the system is proportionate and by associating the biometric data only to those individuals recorded in our barred and SENSE databases, the data and processing is appropriately minimised.

We have to determine appropriate lawful bases as described within the UK General Data Protections Regulations (GDPR); these are:

Our GDPR Article 6 lawful basis is 6(1)(f) – Legitimate Interests

Our GDPR Article 9 lawful basis is 9(g)(2) – Substantial Public Interest.

In most cases, no, we do not share the biometric data with anyone else. The data is stored in our systems on our premises and ‘matches’ are viewed by venue staff only.

The software is provided by a third party, the Face Recognition Company Limited. They do not commonly access the data but they do provide us with maintenance and software support and therefore may on occasion access a limited amount of data to support us in operating the system. We have in place robust controls with this third party, and we have conducted thorough due diligence to ensure they do not misuse any of the data they access.

We may on occasion share data with law enforcement agencies if they make a lawful request. This would not encompass the biometric data but may include images.

The FRT is more than 99% accurate.

Of course, the question is more complicated than this and requires consideration toward multiple factors including the quality of the images used. Ultimately, the question has two sides; 1-How good is the system at identifying people of interest, and 2-How good is the system at avoiding false matches.

The answer to both is ‘very’. We have chosen the software provider specifically because of how good their system is at preventing false matches whilst still correctly identifying the people of interest. False matches are very uncommon and, as mentioned above, a member of the venue staff will always review the match to confirm whether it is accurate.

The system provider explains this in more depth here.

We have conducted a full Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) to identify the related risks and appropriate controls associated to the activity. Some of those controls are mentioned above and include:

• High accuracy / low ‘false match’ system
• Thorough due diligence conducted on the provider
• Staff training and human review of all matches

Other controls not previously mentioned include:

• Transparency provided by notices at the venue, within our privacy notice and this FAQ
• Technical controls including access controls (e.g. 2 factor authentication), monitoring, encryption, firewalls, information security policies, procedures and training
• Multiple data protection policies and procedures

In addition to these measures, the biometric data is recorded in a unique format to prevent it being decoded by third parties. In the very unlikely event that a malicious intruder was to access this biometric data (i.e. if a security breach were to occur) they would not be able to reasonably interpret it and associate it to an individual based on the biometric data alone.

The biometric data is destroyed within seconds of a face being scanned, providing robust assurance that the data is unlikely to be breached. Alerts of positive matches are retained for 72hrs so that we have a clear justified record of the commensurate actions we’ve taken but these alerts do not include any biometric data.

No, the data is stored and accessed within our system located in our premises (in the UK).

Data protection regulations in the UK provide you with a right to object to processing of personal data in some circumstances. Our article 6 lawful basis is Legitimate Interests, and this means that your right to object is not absolute. We will consider all objections on a case-by-case basis, with consideration to the unique circumstance of each case. However, given that the biometric processing occurs at the point a visitor enters the venue and subsequently concludes within seconds, it is operationally not feasible to retrospectively act on objections. As such, if you object to this processing then we advise you not to enter the venue.

If you would like to know more about how Metropolitan Gaming processes your data and what rights, you have in relation to processing please read our Privacy Notice [add link].

If you would like to ask a question or make a complaint regarding the processing of your personal data, please contact our Group Data Protection Officer by one of the following means:

By email: DataProtection@metropolitangaming.com

By post:
The Group Data Protection Officer
Fourth Floor, 265 Tottenham Court Road

London

W1T 7RQ

You may alternatively contact the Information Commissioner's Office on their website https://ico.org.uk or in writing to:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone number 0303 123 1113.