NY leaders call on Madison Square Garden to stop using facial recognition tech: 'Sets a dangerous precedent'

New York state leaders are calling on New York City's Madison Square Garden to immediately stop the use of facial recognition technology on fans. 

State senators Brad Hoylman-SIgal, Liz Krueger, Brian Kavanagh, Kirsten Gonzalez, assembly members Tony Simone and Alex Bores and council member Erik Bottcher were some of the elected officials in attendance at a rally Sunday outside MSG after they said a fourth person had been ejected. 

"There is absolutely no security purpose in ejecting a young mother from chaperoning her daughter’s Girl Scout troop field trip to the Rockettes," Hoylman-Sigal said in a statement. "MSG Entertainment is using facial recognition systems to automate discrimination, violate individuals’ privacy and chill any criticism of the company. It sets a dangerous precedent to permit MSG Entertainment to maintain such power, and we demand they cease the use of this highly flawed technology immediately."

The coalition said venues should not possess the "power to weaponize facial recognition to discriminate against patrons and steal their personal information."

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They said they believed the technology has nothing to do with public safety and, instead, has the potential to "chill free speech" and violate privacy.

They called on MSG Entertainment to devise and implement a written policy establishing guidelines for permanently destroying biometric data when the initial purpose of collecting such data has been completed. 

Rep. Jerry Nadler and the elected officials at the rally wrote this request in a letter to company CEO James Dolan.

They noted that MSG Entertainment receives a New York State tax abatement for the venue valued at approximately $43 million annually, a New York City special permit and numerous licenses from the New York State Liquor Authority. 

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"As a place of public accommodation, MSG Entertainment has a legal obligation to New Yorkers and the general public to protect them against discrimination and cease harassing them," the release said.

The system recently came under scrutiny following revelations that it was being used to ban attorneys involved with lawsuits against MSG Entertainment. In one incident, a Girl Scout mom whose firm is pursuing active litigation against MSG Entertainment was refused entry into Radio City Music Hall in November when attempting to see the Rockettes’ Christmas show with her daughter's Girl Scout troop.

Radio City is owned by MSG Entertainment.

MSG Entertainment told FOX Business Tuesday the company does not retain data and that it is confident its policy is "in compliance with all applicable laws including the New York State Liquor Authority."  

"The facial recognition technology system does not retain images of individuals with the exception of those who were previously advised they are prohibited from entering our venues or whose previous misconduct in our venues has identified them as a security risk," a spokesperson further explained. 

In 2019, the arena said facial recognition was one of the security measures it uses "to ensure the safety of everyone," and the technology has been used since 2018. 

The company does not use facial recognition to identify most individuals entering venues.

"We have always made it clear to our guests and to the public that we use facial recognition as one of our tools to provide a safe and secure environment for our customers and ourselves," the spokesperson added.

The policy regarding attorneys from firms pursuing active litigation against MSG Entertainment began in June 2022. It is effective until that litigation has been resolved, which the MSG spokesperson said was communicated in writing to each of the affected firms.

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FOX Business' Daniella Genovese and The Associated Press contributed to this report.