NEW YORK CITY — Madison Square Garden compiled a document titled "Facial Recognition Activists.docx" that listed individuals who publicly criticized the venue's use of facial recognition technology. The document, dated December 23, 2022, was located within a Madison Square Garden SharePoint instance and is part of a 45GB cache of data hackers stole from the company and posted online.

The file included background information, contact details, social media handles, follower counts, and prior quotes related to Madison Square Garden's facial recognition program for three activists: Evan Greer, Albert Fox Cahn, and Adam Schwartz. The document misgendered Greer, director of the digital rights group Fight for the Future, and included screenshots of Greer's tweets criticizing facial recognition, including one asking about a potential ban in New York City similar to Portland, Oregon's.

"The fact that MSG is creating dossiers on activists who say things they don't like shows exactly why private companies should not be allowed to use dangerous surveillance technologies like facial recognition," Greer said. "Given their recent treatment of a trans woman trying to use the bathroom in their venue, I'm also not surprised they misgendered me."

Albert Fox Cahn is the founder and executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. Adam Schwartz, privacy litigation director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, was also included in the document. "The wake of a data breach would be a good time for Madison Square Garden to stop subjecting its patrons to biometric surveillance," Schwartz said.

Madison Square Garden has used facial recognition technology since 2018 to identify individuals entering its venues. The systems have blocked entry for lawyers associated with law firms in litigation with Madison Square Garden. John Eversole, Madison Square Garden's security chief, visited the websites of over 90 firms and subsequently uploaded photos of 1,200 lawyers into the company's facial recognition software. "It raises the question of what's going to come next. Will companies use facial recognition to keep out all the people who have picketed the business or criticized them online with a negative Yelp review?" Schwartz said.