Facial Recognition at Madison Square Garden

Last month, the story broke (alternate link) that Madison Square Garden uses facial recognition software on everyone entering the facility, and—among other groups—flags activists that oppose using facial recognition.

Turns out that the system was shut off for Taylor Swift’s wedding.

Evan Greer—one of the people that MSG alerts on—comments:

Ironically, Swift herself has reportedly used facial recognition at her own concerts to identify stalkers. This “privacy for me, surveillance for thee” attitude feels like a perfect encapsulation of the future we’re already living in: one where wealthy elites can afford privacy, while the rest of us are forced to live in a corporate surveillance panopticon.

Whatever privacy measures Swift had in place for the wedding seems to have worked. No photos have leaked online.

Tags: face recognition, privacy, stalking, surveillance

Posted on July 31, 2026 at 7:08 AM • 7 Comments

Comments

Not Really Anonymous • July 31, 2026 9:20 AM

Swift’s wedding reminds me of Louis Tully holding a party and inviting clients instead of friends so he could write it off as a business expense. Who would accept an invitation to a wedding from a supposed friend who required you to sign an NDA to attend?

Rontea • July 31, 2026 9:52 AM

What is more obscene than a company drafting intimate portraits of those who merely speak against it? The tyrannies of the past at least required uniforms, rituals, and the machinery of law; today, a spreadsheet suffices. Activists, like insects pinned to digital corkboards, are collected not for correction but for the quiet ecstasy of control. In this theater of humiliation, dissent itself is already archived as evidence of futility.

Here, privacy is not a right but a purchase—a sacrament sold by the high priests of surveillance to the chosen few. For the many, the Garden is a cathedral of exposure; for the famous, it can transform into a cloister at will. And in this reversal of the natural order, the modern soul is revealed: we tolerate bondage if we are granted the fantasy that someone, somewhere, is free.

r • July 31, 2026 9:59 AM

it might not have been a wedding, it could have been an antifa or anti-technology meet and greet.

maybe a keyswap.

maybe they were all smoking weed, it did get to new york somehow.

interstate commerce.

funding terrorism.

very criminal.

Clive Robinson • July 31, 2026 10:21 AM

@ Bruce, ALL,

With regards,

“Whatever privacy measures Swift had in place for the wedding seems to have worked. No photos have leaked online.”

To be honest I wouldn’t “know her from Adam” as I’ve never ever really ever taken an interest in her or her abilities.

schwit • July 31, 2026 10:25 AM

It’s private property and no one was compelled to be there. Why is this a problem?

DBA • July 31, 2026 11:25 AM

Apparently even the law enforcement working the event weren’t allowed cell phones, which is interesting because for them a cell phone is a backup to their radios in case of a radio outage – which happens!

KC • July 31, 2026 11:35 AM

Greer and Wired have excellent points. dossier now? sheesh

There’s a shift in the power balance when entities – in this case private company MSG – use powerful surveillance technologies and methods for personal actions.

In a lawsuit against Wired, MSG argued Wired’s coverage was damaging as the public’s reaction would increase “the foreseeable regulatory and political consequences to MSG.”

Two lawmakers had referenced Wired’s reporting along with “existing and proposed biometric-data legislation.”

I guess MSG is fighting the fight.

Schneier on Security

Facial Recognition at Madison Square Garden

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