Did any of you watch the CBS show "Person of Interest" a few years back, where AI and facial recognition were used to track down people in the streets?
Yeah, so we're just about there:
A Girl Scout mom was with her girl to go see the Rockettes, a classic Christmas scene, but she was kicked out of Madison Square Garden because facial recognition KNEW WHO SHE WAS AND WHO SHE WORKED FOR!
Private companies like those that own the Garden have ALL that information!
Kelly Conlon and her daughter came to New York City the weekend after Thanksgiving as part of a Girl Scout field trip to Radio City Music Hall to see the Christmas Spectacular show. But while her daughter, other members of the Girl Scout troop and their mothers got to go enjoy the show, Conlon wasn't allowed to do so.
That's because to Madison Square Garden Entertainment, Conlon isn't just any mom. They had identified and zeroed in on her, as security guards approached her right as he got into the lobby.
"It was pretty simultaneous, I think, to me, going through the metal detector, that I heard over an intercom or loudspeaker," she told NBC New York. "I heard them say woman with long dark hair and a grey scarf."
She said she was asked her name and to produce identification.
"I believe they said that our recognition picked you up," Conlon said.
Man, this technology is scary stuff!
And I know, I know, "private companies can do what they want" and all that stuff.
But why does this company have records of where people are employed and what they look like? Whatever happened to privacy?
A sign says facial recognition is used as a security measure to ensure safety for guests and employees. Conlon says she posed no threat, but the guards still kicked her out with the explanation that they knew she was an attorney.
"They knew my name before I told them. They knew the firm I was associated with before I told them. And they told me I was not allowed to be there," said Conlon.
Conlon is an associate with the New Jersey based law firm, Davis, Saperstein and Solomon, which for years has been involved in personal injury litigation against a restaurant venue now under the umbrella of MSG Entertainment.
"I don't practice in New York. I'm not an attorney that works on any cases against MSG," said Conlon.
But MSG said she was banned nonetheless — along with fellow attorneys in that firm and others.
If you can't see the dark possibilities of this technology and how it could be abused you are sticking your head in the freaking sand.
"I was just a mom taking my daughter to see a Christmas show," Conlon told the I-Team. "I did wait outside...It was embarrassing, it was mortifying."
Davis is now upping the legal ante, challenging MSG's license with the State Liquor Authority.
"The liquor license that MSG got requires them to admit members of the public, unless there are people who would be disruptive who constitute a security threat," said Davis. "Taking a mother, separating a mother from her daughter and Girl Scouts she was watching over — and to do it under the pretext of protecting any disclosure of litigation information — is absolutely absurd. The fact they're using facial recognition to do this is frightening. It's un-American to do this."
A spokesperson for MSG reiterated in a statement that safety is their highest priority and that facial recognition is just one of the methods they use. MSG Entertainment also said it is confident their policy is in compliance with all applicable laws, including the New York State Liquor Authority.
The Gardens claims it's all about security, but they are clearly already abusing this technology to punish people who might work for a rival company or, in this case, a law firm with a case against MSG.
From all indications, this woman was in no way a danger or a security threat.
Right now, it's MSG keeping out attorneys. It could easily be used to enforce vaccine mandates or a social credit system that will control every aspect of your life and watch everything you do.
And if you don't think that is the next step, open your eyes.
