Lawmakers and privacy advocates are calling on the owners of Madison Square Garden to end the use of facial recognition technology on its fans.
Sen. Kristen Gonzalez joined advocates sounding off last weekend, demanding that MSG Entertainment seize the use of the technology on fans. “It’s incredibly upsetting to see not only another example of someone who is wealthy and powerful, using that power to target people but to also that abuse of surveillance technology,” said Gonzalez.
This dates back to an incident where attorneys involved with lawsuits against MSG Entertainment were banned from its arena and Radio City Music Hall.
Lawmakers say venues should not have the power to weaponize facial recognition to discriminate against patrons and steal personal information.
A spokesperson for MSG provided News 12 with the following statement:
“The facial recognition technology system does not retain images of individuals, with the exception of those who were previously advised they are prohibited from entering our venues, or whose previous misconduct- in our venues has identified them as a security risk.”