Momentum builds to ban Madison Square Garden's 'surveillance empire'
Pressure is growing to restrict or ban the facial recognition and surveillance systems used by Madison Square Garden, which critics have described as a surveillance empire operating inside a major public venue.
Why this matters: MSG has used facial recognition to identify and bar lawyers whose firms were suing it, along with other unwanted guests. That is a private company using surveillance technology to control who can enter a public-facing space based on its own legal interests. You buy a ticket, you get scanned, and the venue decides whether you belong there. That is not routine security. It is a blacklist enforced by a camera. Banning this kind of system matters because if MSG can do it, every arena, stadium, and theater can follow.
Who should care: Privacy officers · Cybersecurity · General readers · Policy
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