Even in the happiest place on earth, public security has risen in priority in recent years and for good reason. Walt Disney World spares no expense in providing a safe environment for families by implementing a new system at the entrance of their parks using RFID chips and fingerprint biometrics. Fingerprinting is a quicker, easier and more organized way for Disney to track where you are while keeping the park safe.  However, many believe this security feature is an infringement on their rights to privacy and there should be an alternative means to be admitted into the parks.

Although some families may be concerned about loosing their identities by giving their fingerprints, Disney has that covered! Instead of taking fingerprints, Disney takes a bio-metric measurement of three points on the finger.  The only information the park receives are the dimensions and proportions of the finger.

“Finger printing in Disney is very efficient for the parks but it could be also very dangerous since people are risking loosing their identity over something as simple as getting into a park,” sophomore Andrea Izurieta said.

The majority of Americans are willing to relinquish some of its privacy in exchange for safety protection from the government.  Not to mention, after 30 days the park’s system deletes your finger scan.  Less than 250,o00 Americans report having stolen identities each year, making the probability of this happening extremely low.

If you still do not feel safe allowing Disney to scan your finger, pass holders can exchange their paper ticket for a plastic card with a chip inside allowing them to enter the park.  Disney wants to make its parks safe environments for everyone and scanning fingers is an easy way to ensure only one person gets in per admission ticket. However, some visitors will try to cheat the system and lend their passes to friends, which may result in them being thrown in “Mickey Mouse Jail” which lies directly beneath the park.

Walt Disney World is simply looking out for the best interests of its visitors and trying to make the park as safe as possible.  Next time you give your fingerprint scanned at Disney World its important to understand that the positive aspects of this practice far outweigh the downsides and helps to keep everyone safe.