According to a recent report from NBC4 and the new york times, MSGEntertainment uses facial recognition software to identify guests and, in some cases, bar them from entering company-owned venues.
Recent Cases of Mothers Banned from Attending Christmas Spectacular Radio City Music Hall Her daughter’s Girl Scouts troop drew media attention and outcry from critics who accused her of using facial recognition software as a form of surveillance for Orwell. It also begs the question. fish Fans who participated in this year’s New Year’s Run Madison Square Garden do you worry?
early this month, Kelly Conlona personal injury attorney in Bergen County, New Jersey, was denied admission to Radio City after being identified by MSG’s facial recognition system. I was told that I was on the “lawyer exclusion list” because of this.
The attorney exclusion list was enacted earlier this year because, according to MSG Entertainment, “lawsuits create an inherently hostile environment,” allowing not only individual attorneys suing the company to file lawsuits against the company. It applies to all employees of a company that is a member of the public.Kerry Conlon’s case describes how a company conducts a list using computer software that can identify hundreds of attorneys based on their profile pictures on the company’s website. is shown.
In another recent incident in October, Barbara Hart,lawyer Grant & EisenhoferThe law firm is currently suing the parent company of Madison Square Garden in a Delaware class action lawsuit. Brandi Carlyle I gave a concert in the garden and was escorted from the venue.Around rolling stoneHart says she was informed by a security guard that she had been dismissed because of her employment at the law firm.
This type of facial recognition technology is legal in New York, although the legality of the exclusion list itself is currently being contested in both cases. It helps inform patrons that biometric technology is being used to ensure their safety. It has sparked protests from civil liberties watchdogs, who criticize it as being punitive rather than protective as it claims.
Madison Square Garden began using facial recognition technology shortly before hosting the 2018 Grammy Awards. According to MSG Entertainment officials, surveillance continues to be used primarily to identify security threats, including watchlisted patrons after breaking rules at company venues.According to a new report by sports journalists Ethan Strausswatchlist also includes those who were critical or offended by MSG Entertainment’s CEO James Dolanincluding celebrities such as filmmakers Spike Lee and actor Michael Rapaport.
Following the first night of Phish’s 2022 New Year’s party at Madison Square Garden, conversations on social media appeared to suggest a facial recognition system was being used by Phish fans, who were arrested at the door by security. Some have been stopped.
In one account posted on Reddit, one fan said he saw a friend being stopped on his way into the venue after going through a metal detector. Security asked the woman to confirm whether she was the person identified by the facial recognition software. She then recalled an incident in which she was kicked out of her venue on New Year’s Eve 2019 for trying to sneak in, and asked if she would cause any trouble. was put in the show.
Another Reddit user commented: good Using facial recognition to me. If someone has caused trouble in the past, stay away. They added, “The story is that a woman was kicked out simply because she worked for a law firm that was suing MSG,” referring to an earlier case involving an opposing attorney.
Several other Reddit users shared similar testimonies of being confronted by security and questioned about whether someone was on their watchlist. Two on the same show, one a few years earlier. Two fans claimed they were misidentified, and another claimed he was correctly identified two nights in a row, but all were allowed to attend the concert after being questioned.
So should Phish fans be concerned? For those who aren’t lawyers and have no cheating history, the answer is probably not. Probably not. After all, stopped fans entered the show with a paternal wave of the finger. Watch out, Big Brother is watching you.
