The MLB are planning to do away with paper and mobile ticketing altogether, as they team with CLEAR to implement fingerprint scanning, then facial recognition.
This will roll out next year. All baseball fans have to do is simply link their MLB.com accounts with their CLEAR accounts, and they’re good to go.
“Our collaboration with CLEAR is an important new technology initiative, delivering safe, simple and seamless experiences for fans,” Noah Garden, MLB’s executive VP of business, wrote in a statement.
“Developing a partnership that will unify emerging identity technology and ticketing is reflective of our commitments to always improving ballpark accessibility and maintaining critical security standards.”
CLEAR are the company that developed the facial and fingerprint technology used in airports across the United States. Not everyone is thrilled by this evolution, however.
Last Friday, Microsoft President Brad Smith called for governmental regulation on such facial recognition technology.
He wrote: “Facial recognition technology raises issues that go to the heart of fundamental human rights protections like privacy and freedom of expression. These issues heighten responsibility for tech companies that create these products. In our view, they also call for thoughtful government regulation and for the development of norms around acceptable uses.
“In a democratic republic, there is no substitute for decision making by our elected representatives regarding the issues that require the balancing of public safety with the essence of our democratic freedoms. Facial recognition will require the public and private sectors alike to step up – and to act.”
The computer experts are worried, and why wouldn’t they be. There is huge risk of misuse, especially by companies who operate solely for profit.
