The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is urging state lawmakers to modify New York law to prevent companies, like Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp., from employing facial recognition technology to restrict people from sports venues.
The association has voiced its support behind the legislature’s Biometric Privacy Act. This proposed act would necessitate private companies to establish a policy and timeline for the permanent destruction of biometric information about individuals who have interacted with the company.
According to NYSBA’s report, “The larger and more powerful the corporation, the more powerful this tool can be. The more the use of facial recognition technology can insulate that corporation from opposing lawyers and lawsuits, the more access to justice for individual citizens is imperiled.” This comes in response to Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp’s policy of employing facial recognition tech to identify and ban lawyers involved in legal actions against the company from its venues.
Focusing on this particular aspect, NYSBA specifically wishes for sports venues to be included in the state’s Civil Rights Law that currently forbids companies from banning ticket-holding customers from places of ‘public entertainment and amusement.’ They are also calling for an increase in fines for companies that violate this law. At present, the law covers theaters and music venues.
Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp’s use of facial recognition technology has also triggered a federal lawsuit alleging that the company profited from biometric information collected from venue visitors, in violation of New York law. Moreover, the New York State Liquor Authority has attempted to revoke Madison Square Garden’s liquor license on the basis that it cannot exclude opposing attorneys “and continue to sell alcohol at retail for on-premises consumption”.
As of the reporting date, Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp has not responded to requests for comment.