Taylor Swift Reportedly Used Facial Recognition Tech To Secretly Screen For Stalkers At Rose Bowl Concert

Taylor Swift is reportedly using advanced technology to keep herself safe from stalkers by taking photos of her fans, apparently without their knowledge.

The 29-year-old singer used facial recognition software to screen for stalkers at her Rose Bowl performance on May 18, according to a Rolling Stone report. The setup was simple: a kiosk at the venue set to play Swift’s rehearsal footage was actually outfitted with a camera inside that would take photos of the fans who stopped at the kiosk, then send those images back to a “command post” in Nashville, Tennessee, where they were compared to a database containing info on hundreds of Swift’s alleged stalkers, the outlet reports.

“Everybody who went by would stop and stare at it, and the software would start working,” Mike Downing, chief security officer of Oak View Group, an advisory board for performance venues, told Rolling Stone. The makers of the software invited Downing to Swift’s May 18 performance so that he could see it in action, he said.

Representatives for the “Shake It Off” singer did not respond to Rolling Stone’s request to comment on the story, the outlet reports.

Swift has dealt with a number of stalking incidents throughout her career. Frank Andrew Hoover, a 39-year-old man who'd reportedly been stalking the singer for a number of years, allegedly threatened to kill her and her entire family in a series of violent emails he sent to Swift’s father in 2015 and 2016. Another man, 26-year-old Bruce Rowley, allegedly robbed a bank in April and then drove from Connecticut to Swift’s home in Rhode Island to throw more than a thousand dollars onto her property in what was reportedly an attempt to impress her. That same week, 23-year-old Justin Christoph Lilly attempted to break into Swift’s Beverly Hills home. Fortunately, Swift was not present during either incident.

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