Does collecting sports images and data breach privacy laws?
In de media image: Acton Crawford on Unsplash
Tech company Eyeball collects images and data on young amateur football players on a large scale. But is this allowed? Bart Custers, Professor of Law and Data Science, and Gerrit-Jan Zwenne, Professor of Law and Digital Technologies, comment on the issue in ‘NRC’ newspaper.
Data and technology are playing an increasingly important role in top sport. This is evident from the rise of Eyeball, a tech company that collects and sells images and data from amateur youth matches in Europe and Africa on a large scale. Demand is high: twelve clubs from the Premier League and more than ten Dutch football clubs are already using the company's services, hoping to discover young talent on amateur pitches. Eyeball collects the data through partner clubs, who are responsible for obtaining consent from players and their parents. But is this always done in practice?
Custers doubts whether Eyeball's working method is allowed under European privacy laws: 'Collecting personal information about minors is highly sensitive, especially when it comes to biometric data that can say something about a child's health. In principle, this is only allowed with the parents’ explicit consent.' Zwenne adds: 'You can easily imagine that this is great fun and that many young footballers are keen to take part, but I think the [platform] is likely at odds with privacy laws.'
More information?
Read the full article in NRC newspaper (€, in Dutch)