Venue uses face recognition to ban lawyers

THE owner of New York’s Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall has been using face-recognition technology to stop lawyers who are suing the company entering its venues.

MSG Entertainment owns and operates several venues in New York, including Madison Square Garden – which is home to the New York Knicks and Rangers – Radio City Music Hall, the Hulu Theatre, and the Beacon Theatre. James Dolan, executive chairman and chief executive, said Madison Square Garden was a private company and entitled to determine who is allowed to enter its venues for events.

“At Madison Square Garden, if you’re suing us, we’re just asking of you – please don’t come until you’re done with your argument with us,” he told Fox 5. “And yes, we’re using facial rec- ognition to enforce that.”

Thousands of attorneys from around 90 law firms are thought to be affected by the policy. Barbara Hart, a lawyer, said she believed security guards used technology to match her face with an image of herself taken from her law firm’s website to prevent her entering a basketball game at Madison Square Garden last year.