The Demise of Clear
Overnight, the Clear Registered Traveler Program ceased operation. I do travel by air 5-10 times per year, and had considered the program to speed my visits through airports. There were three main reasons why I didn’t, and I wonder if they are reasons why they have had to cease operation.
- There weren’t Clear lanes at every airport I travel to; the only way this system could be cost effective for me would be if it worked everywhere.
- As mentioned at the Consumerist, the Clear lanes just provide shorter lines; you still were subject to all the security checkpoint hassles.
- My home airport, Dulles International, opened the Black Diamond lanes: basically the same as Clear without the fee.
In addition to the $199/year charge, enrolling in Clear required presentation of two IDs, your social security number, and the capture of your fingerprints and retinal scan. Clear lost (and found) a laptop last year, and although their privacy policy (pdf) indicates that all personal information is always stored and transmitted encrypted, it doesn’t indicate what algorithm is used or how key management is performed. (Remember, ROT13 is an encryption algorithm…) Biometrics are the only identification factor that you can’t have revoked and reissued, so giving mine up to both a private company and the Transportation Security Administration to save perhaps 15 minutes didn’t seem like a good idea.
The privacy policy also indicates that personal information is removed from their system automatically after 90 days if you are no longer a Clear member. It is not yet clear if the cessation of operation that occurred overnight will trigger this data removal event. It is also not clear if the TSA ever gives up your data which Clear shares. All told, if I had been a Clear member, I would seriously examine tools for detecting and preventing identity theft for a while.
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Interesting, I didn’t know those black diamond lanes existed – now I’m going to have to find them…
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:11 pm
They are literally right next to the Clear lanes, and provide the same service. Downstairs between baggage claim 7 and 8 I think.
June 24th, 2009 at 5:28 am
This is interesting. As someone who flies frequently, I’ve often thought about signing up for Clear, but resisted temptation because it wasn’t a ubiquitous service. My bigger question is how can there be separate lines for elite or higher-paying passengers in the screening points operated by the government? Doesn’t that run contrary to equality among passengers?
As for the data theft/identity theft potential with Clear, you raise a good point — we should be monitoring for regularities. Now, my question is does this mean that constant monitoring for identity theft will become the norm each time a business flames out? Do we run the same risk with Lehman Brothers or AIG or any of the dozens of banks that are now defunct?
June 24th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Larry, good point. I suspect that with the “285 million records compromised in 2009″:http://www.verizonbusiness.com/products/security/risk/databreach/ , most people are probably eligible for one of those credit report monitoring services that companies often provide in apology for letting your records loose.
June 29th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Some good responses have come out of Verified Identity Pass Inc. in “this Examiner article”:http://www.examiner.com/x-9185-Denver-Travel-Industry-Examiner~y2009m6d27-Clear-registered-card-follow-up-Q-and-A about how information is being / continued to be protected.
July 7th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Larry,
There is already a disparity in how passengers are treated – whenever I snag a business/first class flight, I can go through the premier security checkpoint in most airports (certainly Dulles), which is basically just sends me to the beginning of the line. I used the Black Diamond lanes last time I flew out of Dulles and it was quite nice – 3 people in front of me…