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Wired: Facial Recognition Technology Used to Monitor Sports Fans at Madison Square Garden

HeadlineApr 21, 2026

Wired magazine has revealed new details about how facial recognition technology has been used to closely monitor sports fans at the iconic Madison Square Garden arena in New York. Over a two-year period, security staff for New York Knicks owner James Dolan used the surveillance system to track the movements of a trans woman, in part to prevent her image from being seen on TV. An 18-page dossier obtained by Wired shows the system tracked all of her movements, including when she entered and exited the bathroom. Dolan also used the facial recognition system to ban hundreds of people from the venue, including a group of lawyers involved in disputes with him. Photos of the lawyers were fed into the facial recognition software to prevent them from entering the Garden.

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