Madison Square Garden Using Spy Tech to Keep Out Lawyers

Bosses at Madison Square Garden and its related venues admitted utilizing facial recognition know-how to stop attorneys from stepping into the buildings.

The purpose is to establish attorneys concerned in lawsuits in opposition to the New York-based firm and cease them from gaining entry, even when they bought a ticket for a present. Two attorneys had been confirmed to have been topic to the method.

Barbara Hart and her husband had been requested to go away a Brandi Carlisle present at MSG, whereas Kelly Conlon was refused entry to a Radio City Music Hall present that she deliberate to attend along with her baby. While each work for corporations with energetic lawsuits in opposition to MSG, neither was straight concerned within the fits.

“MSG Entertainment instituted a straightforward policy that precludes attorneys from firms pursuing active litigation against the company from attending events at our venues until that litigation has been resolved,” a spokesperson mentioned in a press release. “While we understand this policy is disappointing to some, we cannot ignore the fact that litigation creates an inherently adversarial environment.”

But the coverage raised dialogue about the usage of spy know-how like facial recognition. “This is the perfect example to show that these tools can be used in ways that are really alarming,” Evan Greer of Fight for the Future informed Rolling Stone. “In some ways, this is kind of an innocuous case. … But the reality is that this was a corporation with what amounts to a petty grievance, using a deeply invasive surveillance apparatus in a way that left a mom sitting outside while her kid went into a concert.”

MSG maintained that “we use facial recognition as one of our tools to provide a safe and secure environment, and we will continue to use it to protect against the entry of individuals who we have prohibited from entering our venues.”

However, Hart – who accurately predicted that facial-recognition tech was getting used after safety mentioned they knew who she was although she refused to present an ID – argued that “it’s a really lousy extension of bullying behavior. … It’s power run amok. It’s baffling to me.” Referring to MSG boss James Dolan, she added, “Where can he draw the line? Can he just draw it wherever he wants?”