Disney now finger scanning kids as young 3 to prevent ticket fraud

Tourists stop by Cinderella's Castle performance at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP File Photo)

In an effort to combat ticket fraud, Walt Disney World has quietly implemented a new finger scanning policy at the entrances to its Orlando theme parks.

Now, children between the ages of 3 and 9 should be prepared to shave his or her finger scanned electronically before entering the park property.

A spokeswoman for Disney confirmed to FoxNews.com that the new scanning policy was quietly rolled out in late August but the biometric scanning system has been in place for about 10 years.

“The process helps prevent ticket fraud,” the spokeswoman said but added that “parents of younger children who do not feel comfortable can use their own [finger scan] to match the ticket instead.”

Previously, only adult guests and kids over 9 years old were required to scan their fingers on a biometric machine which converts fingerprints to a numerical value. Park guests’ paper tickets are then linked to that data to prevent customers from swapping tickets and stop scalpers from reselling tickets that have not expired.

The spokeswoman reiterated that the machine does not store fingerprints and the information expires when the tickets' entrance dates end.