Deb ParkerDec 20, 2022
Kashmir Hill
This is absolutely insane. A mom was prevented from taking her daughter to a Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall because she works for a law firm litigating against the venue's parent company. They spotted her with facial recognition technology according to this report: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/investigations/face-recognition-tech-gets-girl-scout-mom-booted-from-rockettes-show-due-to-her-employer/4004677/
Face Recognition Tech Gets Girl Scout Mom Booted From Rockettes Show — Due to Where She Works

Kelly Conlon took her daughter to see the Rockettes in the Christmas Spectacular in NYC, but was not allowed in after facial recognition identified her because…

NBC New York
Dec 20, 2022 at 4:41pmWeb
Show threadKashmir HillDec 20, 2022
Lots of people sharing this link from a little paper I have heard of with more info on Madison Square Garden's ban on enemy lawyers: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/13/sports/lawsuit-msg-lawyers-banned-knicks-rangers.html. But wow, use of facial recognition technology to enforce it is something else.
Madison Square Garden Barred Lawyers Representing Clients Suing

A lawyer who has had Knicks season tickets since the 1970s represents clients who are suing Madison Square Garden. So it barred all 60 of his firm’s lawyers from every game, concert and other event at its venues.

Show threadKashmir HillDec 20, 2022
Madison Square Garden first started experimenting with facial recognition technology back in 2018: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/sports/facial-recognition-madison-square-garden.html
Madison Square Garden Has Used Face-Scanning Technology on Customers

Facial-recognition systems can help bolster security, but some experts say the technology raises questions about privacy and data security.

Show threadmrbowlmanDec 20, 2022
@kashhill groucho glasses are now a tax deductible business expense.
Show threadThat Anonymous CowardDec 20, 2022

@kashhill

Tell me you're big mad without telling me you're big mad.

Remember kids, if you sue us you have to break your kids heart because NO ROCKETTS FOR YOU!

Show threadBob Doto 📿 🗃 🚩Dec 20, 2022
@kashhill Legislation will need to step in quick on this type of thing. Or, I'm afraid, it's gonna get out of hand fast!
Show threadGiraffe Slava 🇺🇸🇺🇦Dec 20, 2022
@kashhill wow!’
Show threadFrankieFrontsDec 20, 2022
@kashhill @mathewi That is so MSG. The Dolans are the biggest crybabies around.
Show threadCherieDec 20, 2022
@kashhill I definitely skip any of their events. Being excluded from an event because of your employment situation is bogus.
Show threadBen HagerDec 20, 2022

@kashhill I guess I don’t really see the problem. If they have an active lawsuit against the venue, why does the venue have to do business with them?

Seems to me that your professional choices should have consequences.

Show threadVivSmytheDec 20, 2022
@benhager @kashhill sounds like she just works for a firm which is representing a third party in a lawsuit, they don't even know (or care) whether she's directly involved with the case. Lawyers are trained to argue cases on points of law alone, whether they personally agree with the client or not, in any case.
Show threadSydDec 20, 2022
@kashhill #banai
Show threadJesse SandsDec 20, 2022
@kashhill Idiot billionaires making terrible business decisions you say? Funny, that's how I wound up here on Mastodon.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/madison-square-garden-doubles-down-plaintiffs-lawyer-ban-even-after-it-backfires-2022-11-15/
Madison Square Garden doubles down on plaintiffs lawyer ban, even after it backfires

It takes a special kind of moxie for a defendant to double down on a litigation tactic that the judge overseeing your case has described as “the stupidest thing I’ve ever read.”

Reuters
Show threadHugh GogginsDec 20, 2022
@kashhill Taking pettiness to a whole new level
Show threadRaymond JettDec 20, 2022
@kashhill Hope she got a refund for those tickets, otherwise, there are more problems for the parent company...
Show threadmarkDec 20, 2022
@kashhill kind of a PR nightmare
Show threadrdking647Dec 20, 2022
@kashhill MSG should lose their liquor license
Show threadTiakuh SonDec 20, 2022
@kashhill Doesn't seems unreasonable. Shouldn't even this decision have started by the lawyer itself?
Show threadJMACDec 20, 2022
@kashhill James Dolan is a bigger snowflake then Elon Musk. This doesnt surprise me at all. He banned Charles Oakley for life, banned a fan who told him he should sell the knicks. James Dolan sucks.
Show threadIgor LetinaDec 20, 2022
@kashhill Imagine if this behavior became more widespread and a lawyer was working on a case against, say, Google and Apple.
Show threadJake LaerruqueDec 20, 2022
@kashhill I’ve heard tech being used in casinos for a little while already but as far as I know this is the first reported story on untargeted face recognition (that is, scanning everyone against a “watch list” rather than trying to identify a single target) being used in the US
Show threadMichael BurkhardtDec 20, 2022
Yay for technology
Show threadcmeierDec 20, 2022
@kashhill Facial recognition requires a database of faces for the comparison. Where did they get this? Did they buy an app? Why do we allow private companies to sell this kind of data and technology?
Show threadConsent Games Dec 20, 2022

@kashhill

"A sign says facial recognition is used as a security measure to ensure safety for guests and employees ..."

We wonder if they inform you about their facial recognition system when you purchase your tickets online? If you are notified only after buying a ticket & trekking to the venue that does not seem like reasonable notice for making an informed decision about attending.

#privacy #consent

Show threadOwen MeadowsDec 20, 2022
@kashhill Wasnt MSG ruled against in a similar case last month? I don’t see how this ends well for them if they continue.
Show threadPhillip Hallam-BakerDec 20, 2022

It is also unbelievably stupid. Last thing you ever want to do in a law case is to piss off opposing counsel because those are the people you are hoping to get to persuade their client to drop the case.

@kashhill

Show threadJonKramer, CIS-HETDec 20, 2022
@kashhill , I think I agree with this policy, by the venue. If you are suing me, I don't want your business, and I don't want to give you access to any property of mine to gather information about my businesses.
Show threadKashmir HillDec 20, 2022
@JonKramer Wonder which places will start banning journalists first
Show threadJonKramer, CIS-HETDec 20, 2022
@kashhill , I don't think journalists are suing venues. I don't think there is any equivalence. I suppose there can be an argument for there being some similarities, and motive to ban journalists, but I don't think those arguments are valid.
Show threadVivSmytheDec 20, 2022
@JonKramer @kashhill as someone else pointed out, the best people to persuade a litigant to drop their case if they are unlikely to win are the opposing counsel, so why get them offside? Opposing counsel will be using hired investigators rather than investigating in person anyway.
Show threadJonKramer, CIS-HETDec 20, 2022
@vivsmythe @kashhill , I can see that argument. But, I think if I was the target of a legal action, I would want no one involved in my venue. I wouldn't want them, their family, their lawyers, their investigators, or anyone else on my property. I would make that very clear that they were not welcome, and would not be served. I'm not sure why anyone would feel differently.
Show threadVivSmytheDec 20, 2022
@JonKramer @kashhill even in a venue with capacity for thousands? The RCMH/MSG business is selling tickets to see entertainments that cost a fortune to stage, taking lawsuits that are a known business overhead so personally seems rather counterproductive for the bottom line. Also LOL at the idea of keeping investigators out - they're contractors who work with many clients (and maybe even worked for them in the past and probably will again).
Show threadJonKramer, CIS-HETDec 20, 2022
@vivsmythe @kashhill , are you "lol"ing at the complexity of keeping those involved out, or the concept? I would never suggest it is easy. Look at Ukraine right now attempting to keep Russians out... it can be rather difficult, especially as the venue size increases.
Show threadSpeiburgerDec 20, 2022
@kashhill Not talking about the legitimacy of banning these lawyers, using facial detection to enforce this is straight up dystopic - slippery slope downwards from here! Legislation must step in although I doubt it will…
Show threadBrian DearDec 20, 2022
@kashhill NARRATOR: It would turn out that Musk saw this news report, and thought it a swell idea, so added mandatory facial recognition as verification for every Twitter account, so he could refuse access to any perceived enemies or friends/family/colleagues or anyone else with some connection to a perceived enemy. Of course, the next day, Twitter had zero users. The end.
Show threadEnema CowboyDec 20, 2022
@kashhill People made fun of Rockwell back in '84, but he was right. Somebody's Watching Me.
Show threadAngryYukkuriDec 20, 2022
@kashhill How fucking petty.
Show threadJim_MDec 20, 2022
@kashhill
Its not the banning of attorneys which is the problem but the routine use of face recognition technology.
Everybody who went to that venue has been recorded.
Show thread🏳️‍🌈 Lucy Wildboots Dec 20, 2022
@kashhill @bro good to see she’s going after their liquor license.
Show threadLisa D MerrittDec 20, 2022
@kashhill Creepy. I don't think we're prepared for the changes technology like facial rec, automation of jobs, & AI will bring in the next 10 years or so
Show threadMark IgraDec 20, 2022

@kashhill This story is very scary.

And it reemphasizes that we can't let a corporation own the "public square" either in the physical world (e.g. modern "outdoor malls") or online.

Show threadPrady MisraDec 20, 2022
@kashhill couldnt agree more
Show threadDave SpectorDec 20, 2022
@kashhill aren’t these venues public accommodations? Short of a court order based on some legal finding how is these a legal thing for them to do?
Show threadxs4me2Dec 20, 2022

@kashhill

Guess she should sue them, such discrimination is illegal.

Show threadnikkianaDec 21, 2022
@kashhill Holy shit. This is fucking nuts. MSG Entertainment is a massive employer in NYC... and it's a lawyer.... at a law firm protecting an employee's rights..... I doubt a restaurant worker has union status, but this is the sort of thing that could trickle down into affecting the rights of the unionized workers that MSG Entertainment hires.... Does the leadership and members at the #IATSELocal1 know about this? What about the #Teamsters? If I were them, I'd be consider staging MASSIVE walkouts across the city to put political pressure on MSG Entertainment.
Show threadEric GilmourDec 21, 2022
@kashhill why do they even have that tech? And how did this policy get thought up? How often is this happening to them that this all was set up?
Show threadWar on the Castle, Peace in the Valley🛡️🍉🇵🇸 🏳️‍🌈 🇺🇦Dec 21, 2022

@kashhill

Next up you won't be allowed to enter 7-11 because the facial recognition software thinks you resemble someone who pocketed a Snickers bar ten years ago.

Show threadStephen Rigden 🇬🇧 -> 🇺🇸Dec 21, 2022
@kashhill
Everyone seems to be focusing on the ‘what happened’ here. More concerning is the ‘how’. The venue had a database which had one record linking Kelly Conlon, an image of Kelly Conlon, and Kelly Conlon’s employer. A second record linked her employer to claims against the venue's parent company.
I'd hazard a guess that this was no in house computer development but a product from one of the larger companies offering corporate #surveillance. #infosec
Show threadZengotimDec 23, 2022
@kashhill the gay wedding cake SCOTUS case led us straight to this point.