Two San Francisco bars recently discontinued their use of Patronscan Guard+, an AI-powered facial recognition and surveillance technology that uses cameras and scanners to collect patrons’ personal data, including an image of their face and government-issued ID as well as their names, addresses, genders, and even patron behavior inside the venue. Patronscan is used to flag “blacklisted” customers, track fake IDs, assist with criminal investigations, and alert other companies using its services about flagged patrons. However, opponents of the tech worry the collected data could help empower anti-LGBTQ+ attacks, especially amid the current administration’s persecution of LGBTQ+ people and their allies as terrorist extremists. Related “Effective immediately, we are pausing the use of Patronscan while we review our ID verification and security practices,” Brian Aranda, director of operations at both Toad Hall and Badlands, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Our security teams will continue to thoroughly check IDs manually during this time. We appreciate everyone who has shared their concerns and remain committed to providing a safe and welcoming environment for all.” Patronscan’s website says it doesn’t sell or share any patron’s personal information with third-party companies. But, despite its assurances that it doesn’t conduct facial recognition analysis and only stores patron’s data for 21 days (unless the patron requests the company to delete it beforehand), the company itself admitted that it saves the data of flagged patrons for anywhere from one to five years. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. “For bar and nightclub clients, we collect: full name, date of birth, gender (if available on ID), zip code (if available on ID), and expiry date (if available on ID). If an additional authenticity check is required, a venue can run a one-time comparison of the