with a chance of meatballs

:D

Not necessarily true. SFO terminal 1's concourses B (CO/WN/US/AS) and C (DL, Frontier, Midwest) are not connected airside. If you want to access the B gates, you have to use the B checkpoint.

Let the record reflect that "I told you so". Somewhere on this forum, there are several posts posts by me pointing out that the private information given to Clear would one day make it's way into the hands of others.

I would not sign up with this latest group of greedy scam artists if my only other option to get to a checkpoint involved having to slide down a 50 foot razor blade using my balls as brakes.

Love/Hate
 

Hate:
I was pretty unhappy the night before a flight as I was checking in to get the email (at 10 or 11 pm) that they were suspending operations. I only had a few months left, but felt bad for those who had just paid for the next year.

Love:
MCO and IAD...nuff said :) I fly through security and have a decent (okay bad, but better than coach) meal while my boss runs through the terminal to catch the flight after being stuck in IAD security line for almost an hour! My red-faced, sweating, just in time before the door slammed boss "Ok, I'm a believer, how do I sign up for that clear thing?"

SFO's implementation of Clear was great. You would be screened in less than a minute, someone would grab all your stuff for you and escort you to the front of the x-ray scanner line. If I didn't upgrade to F on board, it was the best service I got that day :)

I found the email address of the lawyer who is the "consumer privacy ombudsman" for this process and sent him a complaint. He referred me to Alclear's General Counsel & Chief Privacy Officer, who informs me that those who signed up in Orlando are a special case (why, I don't know) and unlike other members, we have until October 3 to opt out, which is why we're just now getting emails.

So apparently I jumped the gun by using the form I found in this thread back in June. However, as I pointed out to Alclear's attorney in my reply, it is ridiculous that they made notifications solely by email, since it's easy for emails to be lost to spam filters and address changes. Given all the potential pitfalls of email delivery, I naturally assumed I had not received my form in June, when I read here that others had received theirs.

Anyway, Alclear's attorney promised to be in touch with their "vendors" to make sure Mr. free101girl and I are opted out. This suggests to me that at least three entities now have, or did have, access to our personal information: CLEAR, Alclear and one or more "vendors."

Those who said "I told you so" when we joined CLEAR were absolutely right, and I bitterly regret joining.

Did I miss something? What's the problem with the new company? How are they scam artists?

Not at all the case.

If you go to the CLEAR website's FAQ page and read all of it, especially down toward the bottom, you will see that a court ordered separate communication and cut off date applies to Florida. The new entity does not have the biometric information yet. Until the opt-out period is over and the final assessment of who wants to still be part of CLEAR is complete, the new CLEAR won't be getting our biometric data.

If everyone is up in arms about having their name and email address shared to handle all this communication then they ought not be posting on FlyerTalk. It is not hard to find people these days with a simple US SEARCH query, a review of property records or any number of other basic search tools available online.

A lot of people on here are really full of venom about the new CLEAR but I don't get the feeling they have all the facts before speaking.

For the record, I've always been and will continue to be a naysayer to this program, however I needed to correct your statement above.

This process is in NO WAY ascertaining who WANTS to be part of the new CLEAR, instead it is only identifying who clearly does NOT WANT to be part of it. There is going to be a lot of people who never received, ignored the email or missed the deadline to refuse inclusion. Those people will seriously lose out as their information continues to be bandied about by third parties without real security (remember the CLEAR laptop lost with the unecrypted application information on it? )

It is going to take a long time to get that image out of my mind. :eek:

I've been flying out of MCO almost weekly for the past 6 months and use the Expert Traveller lane and love it. I am usually on the Monday 12:30pm or 2:30pm to ATL and never have a line, is that because I am not flying first thing in the morning? If the Expert Traveller line is removed when Clear comes back, I am going to be pretty annoyed.

I'm not so concerned about being "found" -- I'm well aware that anyone who makes the slightest effort to look at my previous posts or even my profile can figure out who I am. The data held by CLEAR goes far beyond that: those of us who joined in the early days, at least, had to provide many highly intrusive data points in order to pass the "security clearance" (and then CLEAR ended up being merely a "skip the line" program, not a "skip security" program as it was originally advertised, so that was all for naught).

We also provided fingerprints and retina scans. That's not the kind of thing anyone is getting from a US SEARCH query!

Bingo.

You are flying at the 'sweet spot' time for most airports. Early AM traffic at MCO can be a real horror. The Expert line is there but quite often, not enforced. Instead it is treated as just another line with a dozen Disney strollers in front of you.

I used to mention this to the TSO but the response I always got was, "You need to speak with a supervisor." Well, who the %%&&* has an extra 1-2 hrs to hunt down a supervisor?

Given the late time you are flying, CLEAR really wouldn't be any benefit but if the only two choices are CLEAR and a worthless Expert line in the morning, I will be back to CLEAR very quickly.

Those people need to be forced through secondary screening.

I wasn't an early adopter, so I may have missed out on these. When I signed up it was pretty general identification info (DOB/POB/DL# sorts of things). Can you give some examples of what the "highly intrusive data points" were?

Not retinal scans. Iris photos. Major difference.

Fly clear is back!
 

Alclear, LLC today announced that it has acquired the assets of Verified Identity Pass Inc. out of bankruptcy protection. The Company plans to re-launch CLEAR, its biometric-based, secure Trusted Traveler program, in select major airports in the fall of 2010. Enrollment for new customers is expected to begin in the summer 2010 and the subscription terms of nearly 160,000 previous members will be honored.

CLEAR is a secure biometric identification platform that pledges predictability, expedience, and service for its members through airport security. CLEAR will activate valuable privileges and amenities both locally and nationally for its customers. Pricing plans will include: $179.00 per year flat fee for unlimited use or a family plan, for an additional $50.00 on top of the unlimited plan.

"We are thrilled to re-launch CLEAR - a service with proven demand that will increase airport efficiency and security while delivering significant value to our customers," said Caryn Seidman-Becker, Chairman and CEO of CLEAR. "We are re-launching CLEAR with our members and for our members. We are working to build our footprint and re-introduce the program. We look forward to partnering with airports nationwide, regulators and lawmakers to ensure CLEAR's success."

CLEAR's Board of Directors will include Michael Chertoff, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Craig Coy, former President and COO of L3 Communications' Homeland Security Group and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Port Authority, and Robert LaPenta, Chairman, President and CEO of L-1 Identity Solutions. The Company is assembling a world class management team with significant experience in the aviation, marketing, and security industries.