Want To Skip Lines At Safeco? Give Up Your Biometric Data

SEATTLE, WA - Here's the pitch: give up some information about your body - a fingerprint, your retina - to a private company, and you get to skip the security lines outside Safeco Field.

New this season, the Mariners are allowing fans to create a free account with CLEAR, a New York-based company that uses biometric data to verify your identity. Usually CLEAR costs $15 per month, and for that you get to speed through lines at the airport (including Sea-Tac).

CLEAR stores your data, and you get special access to facilities like Safeco. Instead of pulling out your ID, you just tap your finger (or have your retina scanned) on a kiosk. That's it.

But in a time of countless data breaches, and when companies like Facebook are selling your personal data, some might be wary of a service like CLEAR. CEO Caryn Seidman Becker has said the company does not sell biometric data.

If you're comfortable with it, Safeco has two CLEAR access points at the home plate and left field gates. You can sign up at the field next time you see a game - all it will cost you is your biometric data and your trust in a tech company.

File photo by Neal McNamara/Patch