Tomorrowland 2017 denied access to 38 people for ‘security reasons’ not yet known
A few days ago, Tomorrowland denied access to 38 ticket buyers due to ‘security reasons’. Many precautions have been taken after the terror attacks over the past years carried out in European countries. For this reasons, ‘criteria’ in evaluating ticket holders by police officials became stricter.
Belgian media have confirmed that the Boom-based festival together with the Federal Police in Belgium have screened 400,000 ticket holders and the staff as well. Permission for this screening was granted by the mayors of the city involved, Boom and Rumst.
Informed by email, 38 people were refused access based on this screening. Due to lack of transparency, these individuals have now filed a complaint with the Belgian Privacy Commission, considering that federal police have not released the criteria used to decide who could enter the festival. As stated by the Belgian publication De Standaard, the commission’s investigation is now making sure that attendees’ rights were not mistreated by the whole process.
On the other side, the federal police has declared that these permissions were officially granted by the two majors and that attendee data had been shared with local authorities over the past six editions of the festival, to ensure safety. Apparently, this is not the first time that a ticket buyer has been denied access. It is the first time thought that individuals have brought a complaint to the Privacy Commission.