Madison Square Garden illegally uses facial recognition technology to scare off potential litigants and keep their profit margin up — while violating the privacy of fans, a new class-action lawsuit claims.
The civil-rights suit filed last week in Manhattan Supreme Court, alleges MSG Entertainment owner James Dolan’s controversial, Big Brother-style use of biometric data to kick enemy lawyers out of the World’s Most Famous Arena and sister venues like Radio City Music Hall violates a city privacy law that prohibits using such information for financial gain.
“The objective of MSG’s policy is clear — to profit from the use of its facial recognition technology system by deterring litigation and, in turn, reducing MSG’s significant litigation expenses,” says the suit, filed on behalf of a New Yorker named Aaron Gross.
The suit potentially covers the millions of people who’ve attended events at MSG-owned venues since the city’s biometric data protection law went into effect in July 2021.
Gross attended an MSG concert in February 2022 and had his “biometric identifier information” picked up by arena sensors without his consent, according to legal papers.
No other information on him is provided in the suit, and his lawyer Israel David declined to comment.
The city’s biometrics law is typically used to prevent entertainment venues and other businesses from selling personal information for profit, but the suit contends it also applies to situations where facial recognition is used to discourage people from suing a business and saving it legal costs.
The suit alleges MSG is breaking the law.
The suit seeks unspecified monetary damages and an injunction ending MSG Entertainment’s use of facial recognition to ban lawyers or seek profit.
On Tuesday, the company got some good news when a state appellate panel in Manhattan ruled it can ban lawyers suing them from attending Knicks and Rangers games, concerts, and other events at its venues.
The decision lifted an injunction that had been in place since November after one of the banned attorneys sued MSG.
However, Dolan is still feeling the heat over the ban from the state Liquor Authority, which has initiated proceedings that could strip The Garden, Radio City Music Hall, and the Beacon Theater of their liquor licenses.
And some state Democratic legislators are using the ban as fuel to push revoking a longstanding Madison Square Garden tax abatement, so the $42 million saved yearly can be moved to the cash-strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
An MSG spokesperson said, “this is the dumbest suit yet.”
