It’s no secret that publicly criticizing Madison Square Garden Entertainment CEO James Dolan might get you put on a list. Now, a leaked document reveals the company compiled a detailed dossier on activists who oppose its venues’ facial recognition surveillance — and packed those files with a startling amount of their personal information.
The alleged document, titled “Facial Recognition Activists.docx,” was made public after a group of hackers published a 45GB cache of data they stole from MSG earlier in June, which leaked 26 million customer records, including contact details and biometric or facial recognition data.
The news follows an extensive Wired investigation from April that found that New York Knicks owner Dolan operates an expansive biometric surveillance network far beyond MSG’s venues, which include Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theatre. The company says it uses face-scanning technology to identify potential security threats, but its biometric surveillance practices have drawn sharp criticism.
Activists, civil rights groups and public officials have long warned that the deployment of facial recognition at entertainment venues, private homes and public streets strips individuals of anonymity. By harvesting and storing a massive trove of sensitive data, these systems create digital paper trails that are highly vulnerable to security breaches.
In fact, MSG is now facing three class-action lawsuits stemming from the massive hack, according to the New York Times. The suits say the company failed to adequately protect sensitive information and are seeking damages for the breach and the risk of identity theft and privacy harm.
A representative for MSG Entertainment did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Targeting activists
According to reporting by 404 Media, which downloaded and reviewed the leaked data from the hack, the dossier tracking facial recognition critics contains private data on three activists, including their backgrounds, contact info, social media posts and follower counts.
The individuals in the document are prominent representatives of digital rights and privacy groups: Adam Schwartz, privacy litigation director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation; Albert Fox Cahn, founder of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, or STOP; and Evan Greer, director of Fight for the Future.
“Sadly, data breaches are an all-too-common feature of modern life, which is one more reason that corporations like Madison Square Garden should not harvest and hoard personal information about their customers,” Schwartz wrote in an email to CNET. “Biometric surveillance like face recognition is especially dangerous, because we can’t change our faces and we show them wherever we go.”
Fight for the Future’s official statement said that MSG is incapable of safeguarding the data it collects. “Large companies can and will use surveillance tech to punish critics, exploit workers and consolidate power, with no regard for the basic rights they trample in the process,” wrote Greer.
In a press release about the incident, STOP Executive Director Michelle Dahl said she isn’t surprised that MSG has the organization on a blacklist.
“This company continues to double down on its invasive surveillance practices, and we’re pushing back,” she said in a statement. “No one should be tracked by a company or excluded from a venue for exercising their right to free speech.”
Facial recognition backlash
Facial recognition cameras have been installed in MSG Entertainment’s New York City venues since 2018. In that time, numerous perceived enemies have been added to watch lists and removed from MSG-owned buildings.
Lawyers involved in lawsuits against the company have been placed on “exclusion lists” and are routinely removed from paid ticketed events, according to multiple reports.
The practice came to light after a personal injury lawyer chaperoning her daughter’s Girl Scout troop was removed from a Radio City Music Hall Rockettes show in November 2022. Another lawyer revealed he was removed from the Madison Square Garden arena during a New York Rangers hockey game for the same reason.
At the time, Dolan compared his policy to the movie The Godfather. “If you sue us, we’re going to tell you not to come,” he said.
Recent reports also allege that MSG Entertainment Chief Security Officer John Eversole carried out a surveillance campaign on a trans woman who visited the company’s venues, with a former MSG security staffer alleging this was carried out solely on the basis of her identity.
The woman was eventually banned after stalking accusations. Eversole allegedly wanted to keep her “away from the players.”
Dahl argued that the release of this dossier is one among many reasons that the New York City Council should craft legislation to “ban biometric surveillance in arenas and other public accommodations.”
Everyday surveillance
MSG Entertainment is just one example of the broader domestic expansion of privacy-eroding surveillance in the US, including Big Tech’s use of targeted ads based on your online activity and algorithms that track your cellphone’s GPS location data.
Similar to the backlash against facial recognition technology at entertainment venues, communities across the country have been pushing back against the proliferation of Flock AI-powered license plate cameras installed without public input or consent. In some cases, opponents have mobilized to put the cameras out of commission. An open-source map now tracks Flock cameras around the country.
The clash underscores anxiety over private corporations aggressively harvesting biometric data. And because these systems are now integrated into law enforcement networks, including federal and immigration agencies, concern over who controls our personal information continues to grow.
Even if you scale down your personal technology use, you can still be spied on and cataloged by a passerby wearing smart glasses.
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