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Judge Gives Greenlight to Lawsuit Alleging MSG, James Dolan Used Tech to Ban Enemies
By: Serach Nissim
A federal judge gave his approval for a data-privacy lawsuit against Madison Square Garden to move forward. As reported by the NY Post, the class-action suit, filed in April, alleged MSG’s use of facial recognition technology is illegal because it is used to keep out enemies and potential litigants and keep up their profit margins, while violating fans’ privacy. MSG had ripped the case, calling it “the dumbest suit yet”, filing a motion to dismiss the case.
Last Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge James Cott released a 27-page opinion siding against MSG Entertainment, and siding against a dismissal of the class-action lawsuit. The suit had accused the arena’s owner, James Dolan, of violating a city privacy law that prohibits using biometric data for personal gain. Dolan is accused of using controversial facial-recognition software to ban unwelcome lawyers and critics from entering events at Madison Square Garden and sister venue Radio City Music Hall. The final say regarding whether the case will be tossed or proceed will come from Manhattan federal Judge Lewis Kaplan, who will strongly take into consideration the opinions of the magistrate, as expressed by Cott.
New York City’s biometrics law, which took effect in July 2021, prohibits entertainment venues and other businesses from selling personal information for profit. MSG argued that the case should be tossed because it doesn’t get paid or sell the data collected with the tech. Plaintiffs, Aaron Gross and Jacob Blumenkrantz, New Yorkers who’ve attended concerts at the Garden, claim MSG “profits” from the data “by deterring litigation, and in turn, reducing MSG’s significant legal expenses.”
