Tech company CEO resigns after controversy over video captured at Coldplay concert
A tech company CEO has resigned after dispute over a video captured on the big screen at a Coldplay concert Andy Byron resigned from his job as CEO of Astronomer Inc according to a announcement posted on LinkedIn by the company Saturday Astronomer is committed to the values and heritage that have guided us since our founding Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability and not long ago that standard was not met the company mentioned in its post on LinkedIn The move comes a day after the company mentioned that Byron had been placed on leave and the board of directors had launched a formal probe into the episode which went viral A short video clip from Coldplay s concert Wednesday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough Massachusetts exhibited a man and a woman cuddling and showing joy his arms wrapped around her as she leaned back into him When they saw themselves on the big screen her jaw dropped her hands flew to her face and she spun away from the camera He ducked out of the frame as did she Lead singer Chris Martin had requested the cameras to scan the crowd for his Jumbotron Song when he sings a limited lines about the people the camera lands on Either they re having an affair or they re just very shy he joked Internet sleuths identified the man as the chief executive officer of a U S -based company and the woman as its chief people officer Pete DeJoy Astronomer s cofounder and chief product officer has been tapped as interim CEO while the company conducts a search for Byron s successor The greater part concert venues warn attendees that they can be filmed It s easy to miss but most of concert venues have signs informing the audience that they could be filmed during the event Look for them on the walls when you arrive and around the bar areas or toilets It s common practice especially when bands like to use performances for music videos or concert films The venue in this episode Gillette Stadium in Foxborough also has a privacy strategy online which states When you visit our location or attend or participate in an event at our location we may capture your image voice and or likeness including through the use of CCTV cameras and or when we film or photograph you in a population location Once captured a moment can be shared widely They presumably would have got away with it if they hadn t reacted announced Alison Taylor a clinical associate professor at New York University s Stern School of Business Still Taylor and others stress how hastily such a video lead to an internet search to find the people involved and note that it s pivotal to remember that such doxing isn t just reserved for famous people Beyond someone completely spotting a familiar face and spreading the word technological advances such as the rising adoption of artificial intelligence has made it easier and faster overall to find just about anyone in a viral video the present day It s a little bit unsettling how easily we can be identified with biometrics how our faces are online how social media can track us and how the internet has gone from being a place of interaction to a gigantic surveillance system reported Mary Angela Bock an associate professor in the University of Texas at Austin s School of Journalism and Media When you think about it we are being surveilled by our social media They re tracking us in exchange for entertaining us AP Business Writer Wyatte Grantham-Philips contributed to this analysis from New York
