Madison Square Garden boss James Dolan is fine with using facial recognition technology to ban his perceived enemies from the venue — but he refused to show face at a City Council hearing Friday to defend himself against mounting criticism over the controversial practice.
The hearing, held by the Council Consumer and Worker Protection Committee, was held to scrutinize the use of facial recognition technology by private businesses in the city at large.
The focus quickly turned to Dolan. His company, MSG Entertainment, has drawn intense ire since it emerged in December that it’s using facial recognition software to blacklist hundreds of lawyers whose firms are involved in litigation with MSG from attending events at Madison Square Garden and its other venues.
Madison Square Garden boss James Dolan is fine with using facial recognition technology to ban his perceived enemies from the venue — but he refused to show face at a City Council hearing Friday to defend himself against mounting criticism over the controversial practice.
The hearing, held by the Council Consumer and Worker Protection Committee, was held to scrutinize the use of facial recognition technology by private businesses in the city at large.
The focus quickly turned to Dolan. His company, MSG Entertainment, has drawn intense ire since it emerged in December that it’s using facial recognition software to blacklist hundreds of lawyers whose firms are involved in litigation with MSG from attending events at Madison Square Garden and its other venues.
Many of the lawyers who have been barred from entering Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and MSG’s other venues are not even directly involved in legal disputes with Dolan.
Still, they have been confronted by security guards at the venues after entering and told they have to leave because facial recognition cameras recognized them as working for firms suing Dolan’s company.
“It’s not about public safety — it’s about retaliation,” Manhattan state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who has introduced legislation in Albany to make Dolan’s policy illegal, testified at Friday’s hearing.
Dolan has insisted he’s acting within the confines of the law since his venues are private property.
Nonetheless, State Attorney General Letitia James launched an investigation last month into whether Dolan’s company is breaking any laws.