World Cup propels surveillance to new heights

The World Cup is bringing visitors and AI-driven surveillance systems, but only one of those is certain to leave when the games are done.

By: Anne Toomey McKenna, Penn State, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: June 30, 2026

Words: 1,154

Last Updated: 3 weeks, 2 days ago

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By Anne Toomey McKenna, Penn State

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is the largest sporting event in history. It’s also the most surveilled World Cup ever. If you’re visiting or traveling around host cities, then you and your face, behavior, movement and devices are being monitored by governments and private companies.

The U.S. government funneled more than US$1 billion to World Cup security to protect transit hubs, stadiums and surrounding areas; improve tactical …

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