Facial Recognition Software is Here! Technology Used to Kick Out Blacklisted Guest at NYC Event

A lawyer from New Jersey was banned from attending a Christmas show with her daughter at a venue operated by Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSG).

She received the blacklist from the venue due to her employer being involved in litigation with the entertainment giant.

However, that’s not the eye-opening part of this story.

MSG utilized facial recognition software to identify her and ban her from the event.

Attorney Kelly Conlon recently accompanied her daughter on a Girl Scout field trip to Radio City Music Hall. Instead of seeing the Rockettes, Conlon entered a situation like something from the Twilight Zone or Black Mirror.https://t.co/DaMfSiAz1e

— Entrepreneur (@Entrepreneur) December 21, 2022

Today's cover: James Dolan uses facial software to boot lawyer he hates from Radio City https://t.co/TBOG2bSlTd pic.twitter.com/LHveMvGJi2

— New York Post (@nypost) December 21, 2022

"They knew my name before I told them. They knew the firm I was associated with before I told them," said Kelly Conlon. "And they told me I was not allowed to be there." https://t.co/jzvlMMZBp7

— NBC 6 South Florida (@nbc6) December 20, 2022

Reclaim the Net provided further details:

Kelly Conlon had accompanied her daughter’s Girls Scout troop to see the Rockettes perform Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall in New York. However, she was not allowed to enter the venue because MSG has a policy against allowing any visitor affiliated with a law firm involved in litigation against it. Facial recognition monitors were able to detect her presence.

Conlon does not and has never practiced law in New York. Additionally, she has never been directly involved in litigation against MSG Entertainment. She was only guilty by association because her law firm, Davis, Saperstein, and Solomon, has spent years in litigation against a restaurant that is under MSG Entertainment, according to NBC New York.

Conlon said she was approached by a security guard at the Radio City Music Hall lobby as she was passing through the metal detector. Over the speakers, she heard a warning about a woman in a gray scarf. Then a security guard told her that the warning was about her.

“Our recognition picked you up,” she was told.

“They said my firm was on the attorney exclusion list and escorted me out,” Conlon told the New York Post.

Although Conlon doesn’t work cases involving MSG, security still escorted her off the premises.

In a statement, MSG said that the same would have happened to any other lawyer working in her firm and that the firm had been “notified twice” about the policy.

“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,” a spokesperson for MSG Entertainment said in the statement.

The Post added:

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She said she was forced to spend 90 minutes wandering around outside in the rain while her daughter caught the show with the rest of her troop inside.

“I was caught off-guard – I just complied with what they asked me to do and I left my daughter inside the venue with her troops. I had driven multiple people in my car so I couldn’t leave to go home,” Conlon said.

Conlon was caught up in a Big Brother-esque crackdown by Madison Square Garden CEO James Dolan, who has banned anyone who works for any law firm that has a suit against any of his holdings, which includes the Knicks, Rangers, Radio City, MSG and various restaurants.

Conlon’s ticket was scanned outside the venue and the incident, first reported by NBC 4 News, occurred “about 20 seconds” after she walked inside the illustrious Art Deco hall and had cleared the metal detector, she said.

“I heard them say, ‘Woman with long dark hair and gray scarf.’ I kept walking because no one stopped me,” said Conlon, who was then asked to produce ID before being escorted out.

A sign inside Radio City alerts guests that facial recognition utilizing “biometric identifier information” is used as a security measure to ensure safety for guests and staff.