Tech company CEO resigns after controversy over video captured at Coldplay concert

The IT company CEO captured in a widely circulated video showing him embracing an employee at a Coldplay concert has resigned Andy Byron resigned from his job as CEO of Cincinnati-based Astronomer Inc according to a announcement posted on LinkedIn by the company Saturday Astronomer is committed to the values and tradition that have guided us since our founding Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability and lately that standard was not met the company reported 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 analysis into the jumbotron case which went viral A company spokesman later proven in a report to AP that it was Byron and Astronomer chief people officer Kristin Cabot in the video The short video clip shows Byron and Cabot as captured on the jumbotron at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough Massachusetts during a Coldplay concert on Wednesday Lead singer Chris Martin petitioned the cameras to scan the crowd for his Jumbotron Song when he sings a inadequate 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 Majority concert venues warn attendees that they can be filmed It s easy to miss but the greater part 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 situation Gillette Stadium in Foxborough also has a privacy approach 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 populace location Once captured a moment can be shared widely They perhaps would have got away with it if they hadn t reacted reported Alison Taylor a clinical associate professor at New York University s Stern School of Business And by the time the alleged identities emerged on social media it hit a classic nerve around leaders acting like the rules don t apply to them she added Still Taylor and others stress how fast such a video lead to an internet search to find the people involved and note that it s significant to remember that such doxing isn t just reserved for famous people Beyond someone totally 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 currently 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 declared 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