MSGE wins dismissal of biometric data privacy law allegations

Madison Square Garden Entertainment has succeeded in getting a lawsuit over its use of facial recognition to bar attorneys involved in litigation against it dismissed.

The suit under New York City’s Biometric Identifier Information Code accused MSGE of profiting from the use of the biometric technology, as it acted as a deterrent to litigation against the company.

MSGE deployed facial recognition to identify attorneys with law firms involved in litigation against the venue operator, prompting a spat that became public last January. MSGE CEO James Dolan threatened on live television to dox the state liquor authority’s chairman when it looked into whether the use of facial recognition to bar some patrons violated alcohol sales license conditions.

A previous bid to have the case dismissed was partially rejected in January by the District Court for the Southern District of New York. Claims of unjust enrichment and civil rights violations were tossed at the time, leaving only the claim that it violated a prohibition on profiting from biometrics.

That claim has now been dismissed, on grounds that the only “transaction” that could violate the Code is the contract with the vendor to use the technology, or the transmission of data to it for matching. In neither case did MSGE profit, in the sense carried by the Code, according to the decision.

“As objectionable as defendant’s use of biometric data may be, it does not – at least on the facts alleged – violate” the municipal law, District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan wrote in the ruling.

“The biometric data sharing at issue here is no different from any other tool for which a company may pay a vendor,” Kaplan explained. “To say that a company profits when it purchases a product or service defies common sense.”

Law360 notes that New York’s Supreme Court overturned a previous decision that MSGE could not use facial recognition to enforce its ban against attorneys.

Article Topics

biometric identifiers  |  biometrics  |  data collection  |  data privacy  |  facial recognition  |  lawsuits  |  New York City