Imagine taking a group of Girl Scouts on a field trip to see a holiday show, but as you try to enter, your face is scanned and you’re barred at the door. This is exactly what happened to a parent and lawyer in New York. The company that owns Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, and a number of other venues are setting up watchlists and then using facial recognition technology to keep certain people out of their events, including lawyers from firms involved in lawsuits against the company.

This isn’t just a problem in New York: without laws to protect us, companies anywhere could use biometric tech like facial recognition or palm scanners to decide who can and can’t get into their venues, stores, or other businesses. Whether it’s barring entry to someone suing the company, or flagging someone for ICE or law enforcement when a person fits a particular profile, the possibilities enabled by biometric technology pose an enormous threat to our safety and privacy.

As facial recognition crops up in more places—a replacement for paper tickets or as a form of payment at concessions stands—the need for action becomes more urgent. No matter the purpose, it’s unsafe: your data could be stolen by hackers, sold to third parties, or shared with law enforcement. If there are any minor benefits to the use of this technology, they simply don’t outweigh the risk.

Sign the petition: ban facial recognition and other biometric tech from venues, arenas, and all public places.