The Hidden Dangers of Facial Recognition in Youth Sports 

Facial recognition technology is rapidly expanding across industries—from airports to smartphones to retail surveillance. But in the world of youth sports, this type of technology is more than just unnecessary—it’s a serious risk.

Some sports platforms have begun adopting biometric scanning as a means of verifying a player’s identity. While this may seem like a high-tech solution to eligibility concerns, it comes with troubling consequences—particularly when applied to children. Legal issues, long-term data risks, and a growing lack of parental trust make this approach increasingly unacceptable.

Why Facial Recognition Is Dangerous for Children

Facial recognition works by scanning and storing a person’s unique biometric markers—things like the distance between their eyes or the shape of their jawline. Unlike passwords or even ID numbers, these identifiers can’t be changed once they’re compromised. For children, that means a potential lifetime of exposure if their biometric data is misused, hacked, or leaked.

According to the Federal Trade Commission’s COPPA Rule, facial scans are considered personal information. That means any company collecting them must:

• Obtain verified parental consent
• Provide full access and the ability to delete the data
• Limit data collection to what’s strictly necessary
• Use secure storage and deletion procedures

Unfortunately, most facial recognition systems used in youth sports don’t meet these standards. They often lack clear consent mechanisms, don’t disclose data retention policies, and provide no true recourse for parents to review or erase their child’s data. These gaps put families at serious risk—and platforms at risk of enforcement.

FTC Has Already Said No

The FTC has already taken a strong stance against the use of facial recognition tools on minors. Recent proposals that aimed to use facial scans to estimate children’s ages or verify parent identities were flat-out denied. The reasons cited included:

• Excessive privacy risks
• Lack of data accuracy and proven reliability
• Disproportionate trade-offs between safety and surveillance

By rejecting these tools, the FTC signaled that collecting biometric data from children isn’t just risky—it’s likely unlawful under COPPA unless the strictest safeguards are in place. And even with those in place, the ethical concerns remain.

Parents Don’t Want Surveillance

More than ever, parents are aware of how their children’s data is being collected, tracked, and stored. According to the Center for Democracy & Technology, families are actively seeking privacy-first alternatives to systems that rely on facial scanning or biometric surveillance.

When biometric data is misused, there is no reset button. That’s why at National Sports ID (NSID), we’ve made a clear decision: we don’t use facial recognition—period.

A Smarter, Safer Standard

NSID has developed a player and coach verification platform that keeps youth privacy front and center. Our system uses:

• Secure, document-based verification—no facial scans required
• AI-powered data extraction to reduce manual errors
• Human review to ensure accuracy and eliminate false positives
• End-to-end encryption for maximum security

We never collect more data than we need. Our verification tools are trusted by top youth leagues, all of whom prioritize both fairness and protection.

There’s No Shortcut to Trust

Facial recognition might seem like the future, but it’s not the future families want. At NSID, we believe the smarter path forward is one built on transparency, consent, and control. Kids should be able to play without the burden of surveillance. Parents should be able to register their child with peace of mind.

Say no to scans. Say yes to NSID.

To learn more about our secure and compliant verification process, visit National Sports ID.