I didn't ignore anything. The fact of the matter is that I got through in the elite line faster than the Clear line most of the time. Not all the time, but definitely most of the time.


Now, if that were the case, why did I give my fingerprints and retina scans to the Canadian and U.S. Governments for Global Entry and NEXUS?

Any witty response to that?


The statement I replied to was a declaration that "nobody wants to use your biometrics against you." Believe me, if there are people dressing up as their dead mother, there are people who will use your biometrics against you.

Let me enlighten you on my position, which was clearly stated in the original Clear thread.

1. In the long run, I felt Steven Brill was profiting off of the 9/11 tragedy. That is wrong.

2. I was concerned about privacy issues. The Clear folks proved me right in their inability to lose a laptop temporarily (even though it was right under their nose).

3. As mentioned earlier, there were many times that I beat the Clear line at my home airport via the elite line.

4. In principle, I don't think I need a background check, fingerprint and retina scans in order to enroll in a glorified line-cut program. If you felt it was worth it, more power to you.


There was a huge misconception, partially precipitated by Clear, that the program would either enable a partial or full bypass of the "security" process/screening. Once it became clear that it wasn't that, in my opinion, was the downfall of the program.

The TSA did not like this program....ever. When they did not budge on shoe or coat removal or SSSS-exemption for Clear members, that demonstrated there was no real benefit for the price and the other information they wanted.

So no, my reasoning wasn't knee-jerk at all, I just happened to think things through and see the model was unsustainable.

My opinion: TSA wins again. Because they can.

TSA fought the registered traveler programs at every turn. They stalled, they delayed, they made it so that there was no advantage other than skipping a line. The RT programs tried various things to make life simpler for subscribers... and TSA shot every one down. At DCA, the TSA even eliminated some of the priority that CLEAR folks got (and I observed at DCA last week that the TSA document checker had to inspect the CLEAR employee's badge each time he escorted folks to the X-Ray... even if said Clear employee was in full eyesight of TSA each time). Remember that for a long time the Clear card didn't count as ID, and Clear passengers had to present a separate ID to the TSA after confirming identity.

No, folks, in my opinion this is another casualty of TSA obstructionism. Clear may have been financially unsustainable, but the TSA made sure of that.

FWIW, I saw some celebrating among TSA folks at one airport yesterday when the news came out....

This is sad. Now it is back to TSA Hell.

Spiff, I generally agree with what you write, but you know as well as the rest of us how things work in this country and the direction they're headed even more so.

Yeah, TSA outsourced the Registered Traveler program so a private company could make some money. But that's the way the USofA operates these days... functions that in any other sane (fair) country would be the province of government, at whatever level, are passed out as favors to industry.

Look at federal income taxes -- there is no rational reason in the world that the IRS doesn't set up and manage its own electronic system for paying taxes. But what does our government do instead? It outsources the process to countless private firms that really make their money by mining our data. You think one shred of what you send the IRS via eFile is safe from prying eyes? I would never use that service no matter how much the IRS pleads or threatens. It is shameful that our most intimate tax data passes through private hands before it reaches the IRS.

The same is true of our health information under the insane, unworkable patchwork quilt we call health insurance/HMOs. And if our health data ever goes electronic, you can be pretty d@mn sure the US government is going to outsource that to private firms, too. It's madness.

Many of us wanted (needed) to get through security lines faster. We spend too much time in those lines already anyway. TSA offered us only one way to do it... work with their vendor of choice. The alternative -- to miss flights -- was completely unacceptable. But if TSA was going to "endorse" and "fully partner with" this company, they should have done as the FDIC does with banks... ensure its viability in the event of trouble. Endorsement should mean more than just handing out favors.

Any of you out there who are even contemplating a flame because "government is incompetent and private industry does things much more efficiently", you can kiss my ___. I spent half my career in each, and in my view the cadre of middle management working for federal, state and local government in the US is twice as dedicated, resourceful, and intelligent as those working in private industry. We should be proud of what our government does and encourage it to do more, as in other G7 countries, rather than continually bash it. If your expectations are zero, that's what you'll get.

Your claim is wrong on both counts -- conditionally wrong with the first and unconditionally wrong on the second.

If the 260,000 people who decided to buy into the TSA nonsense by jumping onto the "registered" passenger stupidity suddenly came to their senses and jumped on board complaining en masse today to their Senators and Congressperson about the TSA stupidity that is the shoe carnival war on liquids and gels and the ID-is-security fallacy, then more of their elected politicians would do something about the TSA.

If most of those 260,000 passengers continue to play surrender monkey to the TSA stupidity, then the TSA stupidity will continue to reign supreme and the members of CLEAR doing such will continue to get what they deserve.

I am totally with GUWonder and Spiff. We should demand easy, safe, clean and quick security as a matter of right in this country, and not have to pay good, hard-earned US dollars to privatized contractors for a bare facsimile of such civil liberties.

I agree with others that the service was beneficial and also would have missed flights without clear. I traveled frequently through airports with Clear, which saved a lot of time. I would readily sign up again.

Ditto.

Bruce

I agree. I also agree with Spiff that we should not have to pay extra to get what everyone deserves for free.

Bruce

Never EVER going to happen. Period. If they somehow streamlined the screening process, there'd be another story of how testers were able to get contraband thru the screening point. Our hyper-sensational media would make the pendulum swing back the other way. I offer guarantee.

This country runs on fear, plain and simple. The fact that people are worried about their biometrics proves it. My freakin' dentist has more information about me than Clear did. I send my tax returns in every year with my social plastered on every page thru regular mail. Both items are handled by people who could be unscrupulous if they wanted to.

Ebay, on-line credit card processing, EVERYTHING we do leaves at trail that could be picked up by bad people. We need to get over all this fear and deal with the realities of today's America.

Yup.

Bruce

I'm hoping FLO buys their userbase and location rights and gets things rolling. They'll have to do it quickly before airports start removing stuff.

On the useful information front, getting warmer on one subject; I was able to get in touch with the university where the listed Privacy Ombudsman for the Clear program is on the faculty. The Chancellor's office and the Dean's office in the Law School now know about it -- am still waiting for callback from the professor himself or the adminstrator of the Law and Technology Center, which the prof is the Director of.

American Express will not open a case file for charges older than 60 days, but they will note on your record that you called. I also took the name and time of day I spoke with the agent. Interestingly, the Amex website still is offering Clear memberships as a card benefit (I took a screen shot of that and encourage others to do so as well).

There could well be litigation involving travel partners with Clear -- we are talking about $40 million -- so it doesn't hurt to monument your position.

This is a great post.

Wow. Glad I didn't get one. Anyone flown yet today at an airport where CLEAR was? Was the station completely gone or just not manned?

I'm guessing that slot where CLEAR (typically in BOS) will become a FC/Medallion line?