For Taylor Swift, Madison Square Garden’s Controversial Cameras Briefly Went Dark
For Taylor Swift, Madison Square Garden’s Controversial Cameras Briefly Went Dark
泰勒·斯威夫特婚礼期间，麦迪逊广场花园备受争议的监控摄像头短暂“熄火”
Madison Square Garden owner James Dolan has insisted that the face-recognition system and array of surveillance cameras deployed at his venues is “very, very useful for security”—a big reason why MSG “is the most secure venue in the country.” 麦迪逊广场花园（MSG）的所有者詹姆斯·多兰（James Dolan）一直坚称，其场馆内部署的人脸识别系统和监控摄像头阵列“对安保非常、非常有帮助”——这也是MSG成为“全国最安全场馆”的重要原因。
On the night of July 2, security in and around the Garden was particularly intense. Roughly 130 cops were deployed to the area. New York City officials were preparing to shut down the surrounding blocks to both vehicles and pedestrians the next day for a major, major event. 7月2日晚，麦迪逊广场花园内外的安保工作格外严密。约有130名警察被部署到该区域。纽约市官员正准备在次日封锁周边街区，禁止车辆和行人通行，以迎接一场极其重大的活动。
July 2 was, of course, the kickoff to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding celebration, an approximately 100-person rehearsal dinner at Madison Square Garden’s Infosys Theater. And yet, on that extremely sensitive evening, Dolan’s MSG locked nearly all of its security team out of the network of surveillance cameras inside the arena, according to an internal document reviewed by WIRED. The move functionally prevented MSG security from fully operating the venue’s controversial face-recognition program that evening, two sources familiar with the Garden’s operations say. 7月2日，正是泰勒·斯威夫特（Taylor Swift）与特拉维斯·凯尔西（Travis Kelce）婚礼庆典的开端，一场约100人参加的彩排晚宴在麦迪逊广场花园的Infosys剧院举行。然而，据《连线》（WIRED）查阅的一份内部文件显示，在这个极其敏感的夜晚，多兰旗下的MSG将几乎所有的安保团队挡在了场馆内部监控网络之外。据两位熟悉该场馆运营的消息人士称，此举实际上阻止了MSG安保人员在当晚全面运行该场馆备受争议的人脸识别程序。
While the shutdown order reviewed by WIRED applied only to July 2, those sources add that they were told the lockout was repeated on July 3, Swift and Kelce’s wedding night, which drew roughly 1,000 of the biggest names in media, music, business, and sports. 虽然《连线》查阅的关闭指令仅针对7月2日，但消息人士补充说，他们被告知这一封锁措施在7月3日——斯威夫特和凯尔西的婚礼之夜——再次执行。当晚，约1000位来自媒体、音乐、商业和体育界的重量级人物出席了婚礼。
At every stage of their planning, Swift’s and Kelce’s teams went to extraordinary lengths to keep private what happened inside the Garden. Guests had to sign a nondisclosure agreement before they could receive a digital invitation. Tents were set up for cars to park in, so people could move in and out in relative secrecy (and, presumably, avoid the biometric surveillance gear positioned at the standard entrances). Wedding attendees were told there was a no-phone policy. The only detailed description of the event posted by a wedding night guest was quickly deleted. 在筹备的每一个阶段，斯威夫特和凯尔西的团队都竭尽全力确保场馆内发生的一切保持私密。宾客必须签署保密协议才能收到电子邀请函。现场搭建了帐篷供车辆停放，以便人们能相对隐秘地进出（并据推测，是为了避开设置在标准入口处的生物识别监控设备）。婚礼参加者被告知现场禁止使用手机。唯一一位婚礼当晚宾客发布的关于活动的详细描述也被迅速删除。
According to the internal document, an MSG executive ordered on July 2 a seven-hour lockdown of the Garden’s video management system, made by the security tech company Genetec, “due to a client privacy request.” Security staffers who ordinarily monitor the building’s internal cameras and the accompanying face-recognition software were barred from doing so. The memo states that only a handful of company leaders and engineers were allowed into their Genetec accounts. The rest were “disabled.” 根据这份内部文件，一名MSG高管在7月2日下令对由安防科技公司Genetec提供的场馆视频管理系统进行为期七小时的封锁，理由是“出于客户隐私要求”。平时负责监控大楼内部摄像头及配套人脸识别软件的安保人员被禁止操作。备忘录显示，只有少数公司领导和工程师被允许登录他们的Genetec账户，其余人员的权限均被“禁用”。
“If you somehow still have access to cameras after 3PM, you will be forcibly logged off,” the document warned MSG security personnel. “如果你在下午3点后仍能访问摄像头，你将被强制登出，”该文件向MSG安保人员发出警告。
Since 2018, Dolan’s company has experimented with biometric surveillance 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 contends that the technology is a security measure, but there are many publicly documented cases where the face-recognition system appears to have been for something else: retribution. 自2018年以来，多兰的公司一直在其场馆内试验生物识别监控，这些场馆包括纽约的无线电城音乐厅（Radio City Music Hall）、灯塔剧院（Beacon Theater）以及拉斯维加斯的球体场馆（Sphere）。该组织坚称这项技术是一种安保措施，但有许多公开记录的案例显示，人脸识别系统似乎另有用途：报复。
Fans who’ve been critical of Dolan have had their faces captured and then put on watch lists. A lawyer representing a cop was banned in April because his client is suing MSG. A mom trying to take her then 9-year-old Girl Scout to a Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall had her face flagged and was blocked from entering. The reason: She was an attorney, and her firm was in a legal dispute with one Dolan-controlled entity. 批评过多兰的粉丝被捕捉面部信息并列入观察名单。一名代表警察的律师在4月份被禁入，因为他的客户正在起诉MSG。一位母亲试图带她当时9岁的女童子军去无线电城音乐厅看圣诞演出时，因面部被标记而被拒绝入场。原因在于：她是一名律师，而她所在的律所正与多兰控制的一家实体存在法律纠纷。
Genetec’s software serves as the backbone for MSG’s video security system, monitoring feeds from the various cameras and allowing security personnel to manage the applications that rely on those feeds, including face recognition. Cameras at the guest entrances are tied into a face-recognition system made by eConnect. If someone’s face triggers an alert, Genetec then allows that person to be easily tracked across the camera network. According to a person familiar with the security surveillance setup, “This makes it much easier to track a person, because we can jump from camera to camera in real time and follow them.” Genetec的软件是MSG视频安防系统的核心，它监控来自各个摄像头的信号，并允许安保人员管理依赖这些信号的应用程序，包括人脸识别。宾客入口处的摄像头与eConnect公司制造的人脸识别系统相连。如果某人的面部触发了警报，Genetec就能让安保人员轻松地在摄像头网络中追踪此人。据一位熟悉该安保监控设置的人士称：“这使得追踪一个人变得容易得多，因为我们可以实时在不同摄像头之间切换并跟踪他们。”
As WIRED previously reported, Garden security used these systems to monitor a transgender woman second-by-second when she was in the arena. The cameras even noted when she went in and out of a bathroom. 正如《连线》此前报道的那样，花园球场的安保人员曾利用这些系统，对一名跨性别女性在场馆内的一举一动进行实时监控。摄像头甚至记录了她进出洗手间的时间。
Attendees at the Swift-Kelce pre-wedding celebration were spared such prying eyes. Civil libertarians say they understand why the couple might not want Dolan’s surveillance system deployed in full. But those activists see the accommodation as more than a one-off. It’s a preview of “a future where privacy is a luxury for the elite few, and the rest of us are subjected to pervasive surveillance everywhere we go,” says Evan Greer, director of the digital rights group Fight for the Future. 斯威夫特与凯尔西婚礼庆典的参加者免受了这种窥探。民权人士表示，他们理解这对夫妇为何不希望多兰的监控系统全面部署。但这些活动人士认为，这种特殊待遇不仅仅是一次性的。数字权利组织“为未来而战”（Fight for the Future）的主任埃文·格里尔（Evan Greer）表示，这是“一个隐私成为少数精英奢侈品，而我们其余人无论走到哪里都受到无处不在的监控的未来”的预演。
MSG’s venues host private events not infrequently. NBCUniversal takes over Radio City Music Hall every year to preview its shows for the next season; Warner Bros. Discovery goes to other Dolan-owned properties. But those customers did not ask to disable any aspect of the Garden’s security system, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter. “It has never been done,” the source says, reflecting on their years at MSG, “and the request wouldn’t have been entertained.” MSG的场馆经常举办私人活动。NBC环球每年都会包下无线电城音乐厅来预览下一季的节目；华纳兄弟探索公司也会使用多兰旗下的其他物业。但据一位直接了解此事的消息人士称，这些客户从未要求禁用花园球场安保系统的任何部分。“这从未发生过，”该消息人士在回顾其在MSG工作的岁月时说，“而且这种请求根本不会被考虑。”
Even when the New York Police Department takes over Madison Square Garden, the cameras have stayed on. The NYPD regularly holds its graduation ceremonies from the Police Academy within the arena. As WIRED previously reported, the MSG face-recognition system contained a photograph apparently taken from one of those events. It shows an officer in his Police Academy dress uniform. 即使是纽约警察局接管麦迪逊广场花园时，摄像头也一直处于开启状态。纽约警局经常在场馆内举行警察学院的毕业典礼。正如《连线》此前报道的那样，MSG的人脸识别系统中包含一张显然是在此类活动中拍摄的照片，照片中显示一名警官身穿警察学院礼服。
Which would make this celebration an outlier. 这使得这场婚礼庆典成为了一个例外。
There’s the argument that Swift and Kelce, two of the planet’s most famous people, bought some modicum of privacy for themselves and their guests when they spent the estimated $1.2 to $1.6 million to book the Garden. It’s a venue with “some unique advantages,” former NY… 有一种观点认为，斯威夫特和凯尔西作为全球最著名的两个人，在花费约120万至160万美元包下花园球场时，为自己和宾客购买了一定程度的隐私。这是一个拥有“一些独特优势”的场馆，前纽约……