{"id":322491,"date":"2025-08-06T12:33:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T12:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/322491\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T12:33:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T12:33:10","slug":"sheffield-wednesday-fans-hit-out-over-plans-for-facial-recognition-at-hillsborough-amid-club-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/322491\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheffield Wednesday fans hit out over plans for facial recognition at Hillsborough amid club crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cKWiEj\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cKWiEj\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cKWiEj\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"sc-1uza6dc-1 huxBsk\">Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong>Read more<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/sheffield-wednesday\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sheffield Wednesday<\/a> fans have criticised the club over alleged plans to introduce facial recognition technology at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/hillsborough\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hillsborough<\/a> this season, labelling the move a \u201cpotential infringement of supporters&#8217; rights\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>In an <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/swfctrust.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Enquiry_Letter_Facial_Recognition-1.pdf\">open letter to Sheffield Wednesday\u2019s Data Protection Officer<\/a>, the Trust said that it was \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d to learn that the club \u201cmay be intending to deploy facial recognition technology (\u201cFRT\u201d) at home fixtures at Hillsborough\u201d, having learned about the plan \u201cfrom SAG (Safety Advisory Group) meeting minutes obtained by an FOI request\u201d. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe use of FRT raises significant legal, regulatory and ethical concerns. It is vital, therefore, that Sheffield Wednesday is transparent with fans regarding any planned deployment of this technology ahead of time,\u201d added the statement.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SWFCTrust\/status\/1952835369356923206\">a post including the statement on X<\/a> added that the Trust was \u201cappalled that the club has prioritised spending money on this while failing to carry out essential North Stand repairs\u201d, with the stand having closed on 29 July amid the club\u2019s ongoing financial difficulties. <\/p>\n<p>The statement continued with a set of \u201cfundamental questions\u201d that it believes the club should answer publicly, requesting that answers are provided \u201cno later than 5pm on 8 August 2025\u201d ahead of the club\u2019s opening match of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/championship\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Championship<\/a> season two days later. <\/p>\n<p>The relevant questions included queries on \u201cwhat type of FRT framework\u201d the club intends to use, the intended outcome of the use of the technology and who proposed its use and when, as well as relevant GDPR concerns. <\/p>\n<p>With the club currently under transfer embargo due on ongoing financial complications, the statement also questioned how much the club has \u201cspent on exploring the deployment of FRT to date\u201d, as well as \u201chow costs incurred to date [have] been funded\u201d. <\/p>\n<p>The Independent has contacted Sheffield Wednesday to request a comment. <\/p>\n<p>The Owls begin their Championship campaign this weekend against Leicester, though it has been a tumultuous build-up to their opener with<a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/sport\/football\/sheffield-wednesday-players-statement-b2801637.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> players releasing a statement<\/a> expressing concern at the lack of clarity around the club\u2019s financial situation and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/sport\/football\/sky-sports-stoke-efl-hillsborough-preston-b2801464.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fans planning a protest against club owner Dejphon Chansiri<\/a> at the King Power Stadium. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8817],"tags":[748,393,4884,1620,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-322491","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sheffield","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-sheffield","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114981843951884569","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}