Giving your biometric data comes with a cost

My first experience with a metal detector while covering sports was on Oct. 30, 2001, roughly seven weeks after the 9/11 terror attacks. It was Game 3 of the World Series between the New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks at Yankee Stadium and President George W. Bush was throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.

Most of us that day were frightened out of our minds, given anthrax scares in Manhattan’s subway system and the unknowns about what could happen next after the World Trade Center’s collapse. So, we generally didn’t mind spending two hours in a media line being guided through a security gauntlet, which was preferable to what some fans went through later that night in being prevented from entering the stadium until the fourth inning because of the long lines.

Seventeen years later, metal detectors and ballpark security lines are commonplace and, for many fans, a tad overdone. The bag searches, electronic wanding and interminably long lineups are such an inconvenience to some that a biometric screening program best known for airport usage is making its way into ballparks.

It was probably inevitable the CLEAR program would find its way to Safeco Field, which it did starting with the Seattle Mariners’ home opener. Users of the program register by submitting biometric data — like fingerprints and a retina scan — and once approved, merely have to be scanned through a much quicker security line.

I’ve used CLEAR at SeaTac Airport for two years and find it beneficial. It costs $179 annually at the airport, but it’s free for anyone at the ballpark.

Safeco Field, SunTrust Park in Atlanta and the Coliseum in Oakland were new CLEAR additions this year, making it 11 professional teams in MLB, NBA and MLS using the program. But as much as I enjoy CLEAR at the airport, the ballpark version gives me pause.

CLEAR operates on a licensing arrangement with teams. Lauren Stangel, vice president of CLEAR’s sports and events division, declined to say how much her company is paid to set up shop. Still, whether it’s the licensing fee or ability to attract new customers to its airport business, you know CLEAR is getting something out of this.

Stangel insists CLEAR does not share personal biometric details with corporate clients. And that’s a good thing, considering how data from Facebook was used to manipulate voters in the last presidential election. Sports teams getting hold of such data could track spending habits and movement of fans inside stadiums. Want to sell your tickets on the online secondary market? Teams with your biometric data would know whether you entered the building and actually used your seats and could store that information for future decisions on renewing your season tickets.

This isn’t some far-fetched science-fiction fantasy. When the Golden 1 Center was being built in Sacramento, the Kings explored the use of facial recognition technology to identify season-ticket holders as they approached the venue. The idea was to identify who was entering the building and tailoring a more immediate and customized user experience — i.e. getting them to spend more money — once inside.

That idea hasn’t been implemented yet. But it isn’t that big a stretch between facial recognition software and a biometric scan of your retinas.