For Taylor Swift, Madison Square Garden’s Conflicting Cameras Briefly Went Dark

Madison Square Garden owner James Dolan insisted that the facial recognition system and multiple cameras. sent to its divisions and “highly effective in defense”—a big one because because MSG “is the safest place in the country.”

On the night of July 2, security in and around the Garden was very tight. About 130 police officers were deployed in the area. New York City officials were planning to close traffic and pedestrian traffic the next day for the big event.

July 2 was, of course, the start of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce wedding celebration, about 100-person rehearsal dinner at Madison Square Garden’s Infosys Theater. And yet, on that fateful night, Dolan’s MSG locked almost its entire security team outside of the arena’s surveillance cameras, according to an internal document reviewed by WIRED. The move prevented MSG security from using the highly-acclaimed program at the venue that night, two sources familiar with the Garden’s operations said.

While the shutdown order reviewed by WIRED was implemented on July 2, the sources add that they were told the shutdown was repeated on July 3, the night of Swift and Kelce’s wedding, which drew nearly 1,000 of the biggest names in media, music, business, and sports.

At every stage of their preparation, Swift’s and Kelce’s teams went to extraordinary lengths to keep the secret of what happened inside the Garden. Visitors should sign a non-disclosure agreement before receiving a digital invitation. Tents it was set up to allow cars to park in it, so that people could get in and out secretly (and, possibly, avoid the biometric scanners at the fixed gates). Wedding attendees were told there was no phone ban. The only detailed description of the event was set by the wedding night guest as soon as it is removed.

According to an internal document, the head of MSG ordered a seven-hour shutdown of the Garden’s video surveillance system, made by security technology company Genetec, on July 2, “due to a confidential customer request.” Security personnel who normally monitor the building’s internal cameras and facial recognition software were banned from doing so. The memo states that only a few executives and engineers were allowed to log into their Genetec accounts. The rest were “disabled.”

“If you still find cameras after 3PM, you will be forcibly removed,” the document warned MSG security personnel.

Starting in 2018, Mr. Dolan the company has tested biometric controls at its venues, which include Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theater in New York, as well as the Sphere in Las Vegas. The organization argues that the technology is a security measure, but there are many publicly documented cases where facial recognition appears to have been something else: retaliation.

Dolan’s opposition supporters had their faces arrested and put on a watch list. A a lawyer representing a police officer He was banned in April because his client is suing MSG. Mom is trying to get him then A 9-year-old girl at a Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall he showed his face and was denied entry. The reason: He was a lawyer, and his company was in a legal dispute with an organization controlled by Dolan.

Genetec’s software serves as the backbone of MSG’s video security, monitoring food from various cameras and allowing security staff to monitor programs that rely on that food, including facial recognition. The cameras at the visitor gates are connected to a facial recognition system developed by eConnect. If someone’s face triggers an alert, Genetec allows the person to be easily tracked through the camera system. According to a person familiar with the security implementation, “This makes it easier to track someone, because we can jump from camera to camera in real time and follow them.”

Like WIRED previously reportedGarden security uses these systems to evaluate a transgender woman again and again when he was in the arena. The cameras detected when he entered and exited the bathroom.