Debating this specific dossier ignores the larger issue, IMO:
> MSG has deployed facial recognition technology since 2018 to identify people entering the venue. MSG’s facial recognition systems have been used to block entry to the stadium for all sorts of people. The list includes lawyers who work at law firms in litigation with MSG, even if they are not part of the litigation themselves; and potentially a man who once made a shirt that criticized Dolan.
> The document was included in a 45GB cache of data hackers stole from MSG and posted online this month
MSG management is not only misusing facial recognition data, they're also so inept as to store it insecurely in a way that violates their own customer's privacy.
We need laws around this stuff. And in the meantime NYC should start playing hardball: if they're going to arbitrarily block people from entering MSG based on corporate vendetta then they need to lose their tax exemption (well, they should anyway...)
I expect that every major venue is using this technology now. You'd be pretty naive to think otherwise. And keeping lists of people they find "interesting" just goes along with that -- otherwise what's the point?
xrd 2 hours ago [-]
Please watch/listen to the Pablo Torre podcast about this one for additional context:
If you don't know, Pablo recently won a Pulitzer for his reporting on Steve Balmer's deal with Aspiration. If you listened only to mainstream media, you would think "Poor Steve, he was duped!" But, Pablo's reporting might change your opinion on that one.
The incredible volume of high quality, well researched shows are so refreshing as an antidote to Joe Rogan and Theo Vaughn, who seem to come into every interview with just the right amount of ignorance to let every guest spew whatever propaganda they want. Pablo never lets that happen.
zulux 1 hours ago [-]
Aspiration?
xrd 40 minutes ago [-]
Oops, yes, correct!
emsign 51 minutes ago [-]
List of Honor. I'm grateful these brave people exist.
joxdosba 2 hours ago [-]
[dead]
adolph 2 hours ago [-]
In each section, the document includes background information on the
activist, their contact information if available, their social media handles
and follower count, then quotes each have previously said about MSG’s facial
recognition program.
This seems like a pretty normal thing to do. If anything its kind of quaint to see “Facial Recognition Activists.docx” . . . in a folder named “Activists" instead of plugging it into a repurposed CRM with built-in social media monitoring, or maybe an electronic Evidence Board in Foundry to tie back EFF donations to season ticket holders of various things. Maybe they do all that too, or maybe the event venue management doesn't care that much.
afavour 21 minutes ago [-]
It isn’t really a normal thing to do, no. Do you think they keep dossiers on everyone who complains about concession prices? About long lines to get in? Do you think people who have done either of those things get denied access to MSG?
The fact that they’re this motivated to track people on this niche topic sounds alarm bells for me.
newaccountman2 43 minutes ago [-]
"This seems like a pretty normal thing to do." - adolph
(relevant username)
robby_w_g 25 minutes ago [-]
I may be out of pocket here, but I think the Hacker News crowd of tech bros who spy on people for a living have a biased opinion on whether spying on people is normal
esseph 1 hours ago [-]
> This seems like a pretty normal thing to do.
That is NOT normal.
darth_avocado 43 minutes ago [-]
Not the one to make this discourse Reddit like but I do find the username pretty unfortunate for the comment.
iso1631 9 minutes ago [-]
Well you'd like to think that. I agree it shouldn't be normal.
Half the tech industry thinks its fine though -- at least as long as it's not the government doing it.
1attice 2 hours ago [-]
"Normal" here requires a time bound. I would say it's pretty abnormal if the window is "the last thirty years", and pretty normal if it's "the last thirty days."
Because of the thing.
wbl 2 hours ago [-]
Dolan is known for being extra petty.
GuinansEyebrows 2 hours ago [-]
> This seems like a pretty normal thing to do
sorry to the rest of the esteemed hn community for the low-effort reply, but... gross.
zulux 1 hours ago [-]
We have a document detailing our competitors. So I guess I have to ask...
Am I normal?
afavour 44 minutes ago [-]
If your document details personal information about your competitors employees and their personal contact details then I think the situation might be comparable.
And very much not normal.
rolph 4 minutes ago [-]
[delayed]
Catloafdev 42 minutes ago [-]
You think having a document detailing competitors is the same thing as compiling personal information of people who have publicly commented against what you're doing?
The sandbagging on this story is crazy.
ramon156 1 hours ago [-]
Do those documents detail personal information, like face identification, family, etc.?
Its usually about the company, not the individual
Spooky23 43 minutes ago [-]
Competitive intelligence and customer info is one thing. Do you block your business competitors associates and family from accessing public venues?
Dolan does.
chasd00 1 hours ago [-]
when i'm doing large presentations to prospective clients my company gives me what they call a "look book". This is a deck with information about every person in the audience all the way down to personality traits, triggering words/phrases, and negotiating style. I think it's pretty normal.
esseph 1 hours ago [-]
Some of you run in dark circles, and this is coming from a guy who got paid to kill people.
Catloafdev 1 hours ago [-]
Crazy to see this attempt to be normalized here.
No. No, this is not normal.
smallerize 1 hours ago [-]
People are making a concerted effort to force your business to do something, and you don't want to know their names or how much influence they actually have?
orlp 16 minutes ago [-]
Actually, they're making an effort to force your business to not do something.
2d8a875f-39a2-4 1 hours ago [-]
Yeah, not much to see here. Each of the activists named likely had a similar "dossier" on MSG and the Dolan guy. Knowledge workers are going to practise knowledge management. People use to do this with a Rolodex.
nla 1 hours ago [-]
In NYC, you can trespass anyone from a private business at any time and for no reason at all.
NY Penal Law § 140.00 says a person in premises open to the public is there with license/privilege unless they defy a lawful order not to enter or remain, personally communicated by the owner or another authorized person.
So, in plain English:
“You have to leave. You are not allowed back.”
The owner does not need to say:
“You have to leave because…”
There was a ton of hoopla around this when Radio City and MSG trespassed lawyers that were suing the company and venues.
Everyone was up in arms and nothing happened.
cdrnsf 52 seconds ago [-]
Ownership's behavior is entirely too extreme and frequently crosses the line.
It’s billionaire people pushing the bounds of their enclosure, Jurassic Park style. The similar behavior in the west coast are the people who create various hoops to deny the public access to the shore.
NYC grants significant concessions to developers in exchange for public access. It’s important to overreact and push back to every incursion into the public sphere as every incremental pushback of public benefit is cumulative over time.
Manhattan in particular is a precious resource that is already largely a playground for the rich. Normal people used to live there.
redsocksfan45 14 minutes ago [-]
[dead]
Rendered at 16:38:13 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) with Vercel.
> MSG has deployed facial recognition technology since 2018 to identify people entering the venue. MSG’s facial recognition systems have been used to block entry to the stadium for all sorts of people. The list includes lawyers who work at law firms in litigation with MSG, even if they are not part of the litigation themselves; and potentially a man who once made a shirt that criticized Dolan.
> The document was included in a 45GB cache of data hackers stole from MSG and posted online this month
MSG management is not only misusing facial recognition data, they're also so inept as to store it insecurely in a way that violates their own customer's privacy.
We need laws around this stuff. And in the meantime NYC should start playing hardball: if they're going to arbitrarily block people from entering MSG based on corporate vendetta then they need to lose their tax exemption (well, they should anyway...)
https://reinventalbany.org/2023/02/watchdog-supports-state-b...
This is making a huge assumption that the goal was ever safety.
The Shocking Secrets of Madison Square Garden’s Surveillance Machine: https://www.wired.com/story/madison-square-garden-jim-dolan-...
Archive/paywall: https://archive.ph/iiczs
Post on the MSG data breach: https://www.404media.co/hackers-publish-knicks-and-madison-s...
Archive/paywall: https://archive.ph/qh3UQ
Shinyhunters website: http://shnyhntww34phqoa6dcgnvps2yu7dlwzmy5lkvejwjdo6z7bmgshz...
https://www.pablo.show/p/inside-james-dolans-deep-state?utm_...
If you don't know, Pablo recently won a Pulitzer for his reporting on Steve Balmer's deal with Aspiration. If you listened only to mainstream media, you would think "Poor Steve, he was duped!" But, Pablo's reporting might change your opinion on that one.
The incredible volume of high quality, well researched shows are so refreshing as an antidote to Joe Rogan and Theo Vaughn, who seem to come into every interview with just the right amount of ignorance to let every guest spew whatever propaganda they want. Pablo never lets that happen.
The fact that they’re this motivated to track people on this niche topic sounds alarm bells for me.
(relevant username)
That is NOT normal.
Half the tech industry thinks its fine though -- at least as long as it's not the government doing it.
Because of the thing.
sorry to the rest of the esteemed hn community for the low-effort reply, but... gross.
Am I normal?
And very much not normal.
The sandbagging on this story is crazy.
Its usually about the company, not the individual
Dolan does.
No. No, this is not normal.
NY Penal Law § 140.00 says a person in premises open to the public is there with license/privilege unless they defy a lawful order not to enter or remain, personally communicated by the owner or another authorized person.
So, in plain English:
“You have to leave. You are not allowed back.”
The owner does not need to say: “You have to leave because…”
There was a ton of hoopla around this when Radio City and MSG trespassed lawyers that were suing the company and venues.
Everyone was up in arms and nothing happened.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-owner-extreme-measu...
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/msg-facial-reco...
NYC grants significant concessions to developers in exchange for public access. It’s important to overreact and push back to every incursion into the public sphere as every incremental pushback of public benefit is cumulative over time.
Manhattan in particular is a precious resource that is already largely a playground for the rich. Normal people used to live there.