A lawyer that is the mother of a Girl Scout was recently targeted by facial recognition tech and removed from an event at Radio City Music Hall due to Madison Square Garden Entertainment’s ongoing legal issues with her law firm — even though she personally has nothing to do with the litigation. One lawyer commented, “The fact they’re using facial recognition to do this is frightening. It’s un-American to do this.”
NBC New York reports that an incident at Radio City Music Hall involving a Girl Scout’s mother has brought attention to the ongoing debate surrounding the use of facial recognition technology. Some argue that it is being used to target perceived enemies, and this case involving a well-known company has only added fuel to the fire.
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
On the weekend following Thanksgiving, Kelly Conlon and her daughter traveled to New York City with their Girl Scout troop to attend the Christmas Spectacular show at Radio City Music Hall. However, while Conlon’s daughter and the other members of the troop were able to enjoy the show, Conlon was not allowed to enter.
It transpired that Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSG) had used facial recognition tech to determine who Conlon was, and, more importantly, who she was employed by. Security guards approached her right as she entered the lobby. “It was pretty simultaneous, I think, to me, going through the metal detector, that I heard over an intercom or loudspeaker,” she told NBC New York. “I heard them say’woman with long dark hair and a grey scarf.'”
Conlon said she was asked her name and for identification: “I believe they said that our recognition picked you up,” Conlon said. A sign on display at the venue says that facial recognition is used as a security measure to protect guests, but Conlon says she posed no threat. Guards reportedly still kicked her out, stating that they knew she was an attorney.
“They knew my name before I told them. They knew the firm I was associated with before I told them. And they told me I was not allowed to be there,” said Conlon.
Conlon is an associate at the New Jersey law firm Davis, Saperstein, and Solomon, which has been involved in personal injury litigation for years against a restaurant venue now owned by MSG Entertainment. “I don’t practice in New York. I’m not an attorney that works on any cases against MSG,” said Conlon.
However, MSG has stated that she is still banned: “MSG instituted a straightforward policy that precludes attorneys pursuing active litigation against the Company from attending events at our venues until that litigation has been resolved. While we understand this policy is disappointing to some, we cannot ignore the fact that litigation creates an inherently adverse environment. All impacted attorneys were notified of the policy, including Davis, Saperstein and Salomon, which was notified twice.”
Sam Davis, a partner at the firm where Conlon works, commented: “This whole scheme is a pretext for doing collective punishment on adversaries who would dare sue MSG in their multi-billion dollar network.” Conlon stated that she believed a recent judge’s order in one of the cases against the company made it clear that ticketholders attending events at MSG “may not be denied entry to any shows,” regardless of legal proceedings.
MSG stated, “In this particular situation, only the one attorney who chose to attend was denied entry, and the rest of her group — including the Girl Scouts — were all able to attend and enjoy the show.”
Davis, however, is not happy with one of his firm’s associates being denied entry and is now challenging MSG’s license with the State Liquor Authority. “The liquor license that MSG got requires them to admit members of the public, unless there are people who would be disruptive who constitute a security threat,” said Davis. “Taking a mother, separating a mother from her daughter and Girl Scouts she was watching over — and to do it under the pretext of protecting any disclosure of litigation information — is absolutely absurd. The fact they’re using facial recognition to do this is frightening. It’s un-American to do this.”
Read more at NBC New York here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan
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