Madison Square Garden Facial Recognition Activist Dossiers

Madison Square Garden (MSG) compiled dossiers on activists who publicly criticized the venue's use of facial recognition technology. This practice was revealed through a 45GB cache of stolen data posted online, which included a document titled "Facial Recognition Activists.docx" stored on an MSG SharePoint instance.

Surveillance of Critics

MSG created detailed records on specific individuals who opposed its biometric surveillance. The "Facial Recognition Activists.docx" document listed three primary targets: Evan Greer (director of digital rights group Fight for the Future), Albert Fox Cahn (founder of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project), and Adam Schwartz (privacy litigation director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation).

Each entry in the dossier included:

• Background information on the activist
• Contact information
• Social media handles and follower counts
• Direct quotes from the activists regarding MSG's facial recognition program
• Screenshots of social media posts, including tweets posted as recently as 16 hours prior to the document's creation

Integration with Venue Access Control

MSG has utilized facial recognition technology since 2018 to identify and block entry to its venues. The company has used these systems to exclude individuals based on criteria beyond security threats, including:

• Lawyers from firms involved in litigation with MSG, even those not personally involved in the case
• Individuals who have created apparel criticizing MSG leadership

According to a WIRED investigation, MSG security chief John Eversole reportedly visited over 90 law firms' websites to collect photos of 1,200 lawyers to feed into the facial recognition software for the purpose of blocking their entry.

Perspectives from Targeted Activists

The activists identified in the dossier expressed concern over the corporate use of surveillance tools typically reserved for government agencies.

"The fact that MSG is creating dossiers on activists who say things they don't like shows exactly why private companies should not be allowed to use dangerous surveillance technologies like facial recognition," stated Evan Greer.

"It's creepy when the largest corporations in the country amass the surveillance power that only governments once had, but it's outright Orwellian when those tools target New Yorkers simply for opposing their corporate surveillance state," said Albert Fox Cahn.

Adam Schwartz of the EFF noted that the data breach serves as a reminder of the the risks associated with biometric surveillance, suggesting that the wake of a breach is an appropriate time for MSG to cease these practices.