FIFA World Cup leaves behind expansive AI surveillance network

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has delivered memorable football moments and has become the largest sporting event in history thanks to the unprecedented volume of teams competing, which attracted over 6.6 million fans to 16 stadiums. It also set another record — the unprecedented scale of surveillance technologies deployed across the host nations, particularly in the United States.

Football fans travelling between host cities had their faces, movements, behaviour, and electronic devices monitored by a combination of government agencies and private companies. According to estimates cited in an article for the Foreign Policy journal, the US government allocated more than $1 billion to World Cup security.

The funding covered not only the protection of stadiums, transit hubs and surrounding areas, but also upgrades to tactical operations, including bomb squads and SWAT teams, along with investments in new security equipment.

A significant share of the surveillance spending was justified as a response to the threat posed by unauthorized drones. According to the report, efforts to counter that risk are accelerating partnerships between government agencies and private surveillance technology firms, raising concerns about privacy and long-term oversight.

New technological heights

Artificial intelligence played a central role in the tournament's security operations. Stadiums across host cities were equipped with facial recognition systems capable of collecting and analyzing the biometric data of spectators in and around venues. The report notes that such data can be retained and potentially used in ways that remain unknown to the individuals whose information has been collected.

The outlet notes that the expansion of facial recognition technology at major sporting events also reflects a broader global trend toward normalizing biometric surveillance in public spaces.

Federal World Cup funding also enabled several states, including New York, to expand the use of drones by law enforcement. Modern surveillance drones can be equipped with high-resolution cameras, microphones, advanced sensors and other technologies, while AI-supported autonomous software allows them to monitor large areas, track movement and gather intelligence.

According to the author, some surveillance drones are capable of scanning entire cities or zooming in closely enough to read a milk carton from 18,288 meters away. Others can be fitted with equipment that functions like a mobile phone tower, enabling authorities to determine a person's location or intercept text messages and phone calls.

Surveillance technologies also expanded on the ground, with the article recalling the use of robot dogs equipped with cameras that were deployed in Dallas and New Jersey, while Seattle reactivated and expanded its closed-circuit television (CCTV) network, which had previously been shut down over biometric privacy concerns.

Although Seattle officials said the city is strengthening policies to safeguard surveillance data, many states and municipalities used federal World Cup funding to significantly expand CCTV coverage. While some camera networks have existed for decades in areas such as New York's Times Square and the National Mall in Washington, D.C., advances in artificial intelligence, data analytics and thermal imaging have greatly enhanced their capabilities.

Modern CCTV systems can detect, identify and classify objects, individuals and even patterns of behavior. Combined with information held by government data fusion centers, the report says the technology can be used to identify individuals and analyze or predict behavioral patterns.

Concerns by civil society

The scale of surveillance surrounding the tournament, combined with recent changes to US immigration and security policies, prompted more than 120 civil society organizations, including Amnesty International and the American Civil Liberties Union, to issue a travel advisory.

The groups warned that visitors to the United States could face practices that they argue may violate the country's human rights obligations.

The Conversation's article argues that the more significant question is what becomes of these surveillance systems now that the tournament has ended. It notes that there is limited oversight of the federally funded partnerships between public agencies and private technology companies, making it difficult for the public to know what data is being collected, how it is shared and analyzed, and whether the systems introduced for the World Cup will remain in place.

However, the outlet suggests that the post-tournament period presents an opportunity for federal, state and local lawmakers to introduce stronger data privacy protections, establish safeguards for AI-powered surveillance systems and require greater transparency over their use.

By Nazrin Sadigova