At least three Castro bars have installed Patronscan Guard+ facial recognition kiosks that collect biometric data, gender, and behavioral flags — and share bans across a nine-venue network. San Francisco's 2019 facial recognition ban applies only to government use.

The black kiosk at Mix, a bar at 4086 18th St. in the Castro, sits near the entrance in dim light. When a reporter from Gazetteer SF visited and asked a bouncer whether the device would take her photograph, she was told the camera had already done it.

That device is a Patronscan Guard+, made by Canadian company Servall Data Systems. At least three Castro bars — Mix, Badlands, and Toad Hall — have installed them, according to Gazetteer SF, which first reported the story this month. The system collects names, addresses, gender information, biometric facial data, and behavioral observations. By default, data is retained for 30 days; if a patron is flagged for fighting, stealing, or other misconduct, it's retained indefinitely.

The bars are part of a shared "flag network" that spans at least nine venues, meaning a ban logged at one establishment can follow a patron to the others.

San Francisco banned facial recognition technology in 2019 — but that prohibition covers only government use. Private businesses fall outside it, and Patronscan's system operates in that gap.

Patronscan's own public statements complicate the picture. The company has claimed it uses "only the guest's name and address to compare against publicly available information" and that "no guest data is stored or sold." That account is difficult to square with what Gazetteer SF documented the system actually collecting — biometric facial data, gender information, behavioral notes — and with a 2023 Illinois class-action lawsuit alleging that Servall Biometrics "illegally collected and used facial recognition data without obtaining consent, in violation of state privacy laws." The named plaintiff in that suit is Erica Normal; the case is ongoing.

At Mix, per Gazetteer SF reporter Cydney Hayes, the disclosure signage is posted below eye level on the kiosk. Bouncers are not required to verbally tell patrons they are being photographed before it happens.

Patron reaction has split. One person quoted by Gazetteer SF shrugged: "I've posted worse things on Instagram than whatever they take." Har Owen, who encountered the device over Memorial Day weekend, was less comfortable. "I was just kind of taken aback," Owen told the outlet. "Why is this at a gay bar, of all places?" At this political moment, Owen added, "it's really not great to have lists of gay people."

Patronscan says its kiosks are deployed in establishments across 700 cities worldwide. California's consumer privacy law, the CPRA, governs some forms of data retention and consumer disclosure — whether it creates legal exposure for the bars or for Servall in this case has not been publicly addressed. None of the three named bars responded to Gazetteer SF's requests for comment.

Tomorrow night, the kiosk at 4086 18th St. will sit where it has been: in the dim entrance light, informational plaque low on its housing, scanning the faces of people who may not know the photograph was taken until after they've already walked in.