Madison Square Garden Target of Major Data Leak
The hacking and extortion group ShinyHunters has been loudly proclaiming a slew of high-profile victims in recent months. This includes the education tech firm Instructure, causing disruption in thousands of schools in the process, the photography firm Kodak, and a key European human rights organization. This week, it also published data allegedly stolen from Madison Square Garden, according to reporting by TrendKia.
The published data, allegedly comprising millions of records across 45GB of files, includes potential personal information from customers and references players and coaches from the Knicks. The data was published not long after the Knicks won their first NBA championship since 1973. A sample of the data reviewed by TrendKia included one file gesturing to include the names of talent, including Knicks members.
TrendKia has recently reported on Madison Square Garden’s extensive use of surveillance technologies, including face recognition systems. Alleged emails in the stolen data viewed by TrendKia include one man complaining about face recognition technology. MSG did not respond to requests for comment and after the story broke, a federal class action lawsuit was filed over the alleged data breach.
San Francisco LGBTQ Bars Implement Facial Scanning
At least three bars in San Francisco's Castro district, the well-known LGBTQ region of the city, have been using face scanners at their entrances to collect detailed information on customers. The bars are using tech from Patronscan, an ID verification company, to collect facial images, names, and genders, according to local findings shared by TrendKia.
As well as the data collection, if staff at the bars spot customers fighting, being involved in theft, or other negative behaviors, they can log this in the system. Face recognition can then identify the person the next time they are at the bar. The recorded information can be shared as part of a safety network between other firms using the tech, creating a widespread surveillance network.
European Intelligence Rejects US Tech for Local Alternatives
For months, governments and companies in Europe have been ditching US technology, citing surveillance and security risks. This week France’s domestic spy agency, the Direction générale de la Sécurité intérieure (DGSI), announced it would stop using Palantir’s data and AI tools in the coming years, replacing them with software from French firm ChapsVision.
We must use our own AI models, French prime minister Sébastien Lecornu said regarding the move. We cannot rely on tools developed by foreign powers. France must have its own tools. While France has been particularly proactive in trying to remove US technology from its public institutions, going as far as building its own open source equivalents to Zoom and Microsoft Office, it is not the first European intelligence agency to snub Palantir for ChapsVision. Last month, Germany’s intelligence agency BfV said it would use the French technology instead.
Apple and Anthropic Shift Privacy and AI Safeguards
Apple’s Hide My Email tool allows you to generate a random email address that you can use to privately sign-up to new websites and apps, avoiding you handing over personal info to even more websites. However, the company is set to change the way it creates these email addresses. At present, they all use the @icloud.com domain. Going forward, as TrendKia reported this week, Apple plans to use the domain @private.icloud.com. The not-so-subtle change could make it easier for firms to detect people are using the privacy-preserving service and demand sign-ups with an alternative email address.
Meanwhile, Anthropic is still negotiating with the Trump administration, after apparent White House concerns about the safety of new public model Claude Fable 5 resulted in Anthropic pulling the product off the market entirely. But security experts point out that AI models with advanced capabilities for discovering and exploiting software vulnerabilities, in other words, creating potentially dangerous hacking tools, will be ubiquitous soon around the world.
Secret Societies and Asylum Face Scanning
A leak exposed the identity of members of Peter Thiel’s secretive Dialog society this week, revealing more than 200 prominent names registered for a retreat that includes panels on building a cult, sex, and prepping for World War III. TrendKia also revealed the society has a secretive way of ranking its members.
The United Kingdom will soon begin scanning the faces of asylum-seekers as part of age checks in spite of evidence that such age evaluation and verification tools are deeply flawed and can make mistakes with life-altering consequences. In more uplifting uses of surveillance tech, Knicks fans around the world had a chance to watch Thursday’s ticker tape parade in New York City on traffic surveillance cameras thanks to livestreams from the artist Morry Kolman.
