A mom who tried to take her daughter to the Rockettes in
New York City ran into a little bit of an issue because it
turns out that the Radio City Music Hall didn't allow her
into the event because facial recognition technology
identified her as a lawyer who might be a bit of a problem for
the corporation that owns the venue, okay?
So let's get to the details here.
Kelli Conlin and
her daughter traveled to New York City the weekend after Thanksgiving as part of
a Girl Scouts field trip to see the Christmas spectacular show.
Now, while her daughter and other members of the Girl Scouts were able to get in
with no problems, their mothers, I'm sorry other members of the Girl Scout troops and
their mothers got to enjoy the show.
The mother in question here was not able to get in and that's because facial
recognition software used by Madison Square Garden Entertainment,
which operates this venue, ID'd her as a lawyer for
a firm they're currently in litigation with.
Now, the mother claims, no, I'm no longer working for that firm,
and I'm not suing the parent company here at all, whatever.
All of that is actually irrelevant if you ask me.
The fact of the matter is they had all this information about this woman,
including where she worked, who she is just based on facial recognition
technology that they were utilizing through the security checkpoint to get in.
>> Yeah, I don't understand why they cared to bother her,
even if it was true that she was a lawyer involved in litigation.
If she was a lawyer involved in litigation,
wouldn't you not wanna make a whole big deal about banning her?
I feel like that would inspire a more vigorous case against you.
What's the argument?
What's the rationale for banning her?
>> Conlin told NBC it was pretty simultaneous I think to me going through
the metal detector that I heard over an intercom or loudspeaker.
I heard them say, woman with long dark hair and a gray scarf.
I believe they said that our recognition picked you up.
So she was asked to give her name and ID.
A sign in the venue says facial recognition is in fact used as a security
measure, okay, to ensure safety to ensure safety for the guests, okay?
But Conlin posed no threat at all.
And the guards kicked her out anyway,
with the explanation that they knew she was an attorney.
That's what the guards told her.
We know you're an attorney, and we don't allow attorneys
working on litigation against us to enter any of our venues.
We have that policy, and
we don't believe we're breaking the law by preventing you from getting in.
Look them preventing her from getting in, yes, that is an issue.
It's how they determined who she is,
that's a bigger issue, a much bigger issue, it's nuts.
>> Yeah, and if they would do this to a lawyer who might or
might not be involved in some sort of case, think about the venues that would
like to stop independent journalists, or activists, political candidates.
Think about the other ways that some powerful people would wanna use this.
>> And she says, even though they asked her for her name, quote, 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.
And Conlin 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.
So that's the company, that's the issue here.
And they're using the facial recognition technology for security purposes.
>> So weird.
>> Now, we're already living in the dystopian society.
How do we get out of it?
I don't want this.