Clear: What Gives?

First off, for those of you who aren’t familiar, Clear was one of the three Registered Traveler programs that allowed you to move to the front of the line after paying them a fee and providing some info for ID purposes. It was money that many road warriors will willing to spend to save some time.

Last week, Clear announced they were ceasing operations.

Clear was not a TSA program, but many are looking to TSA for answers. Here are some of the questions that keep popping up:

Can I still use my Clear card as ID at a TSA checkpoint?

Clear cards are no longer accepted as a primary form of ID.Are there any other Registered Traveler programs in operation right now?Yes. Two service providers remain in operation at this time. FLO Corporation and Vigilant Solutions.

What’s going to happen to the customer data that Clear collected? Is it secure?

Questions about how the data is managed should be directed to Clear.

Will there be another company that takes over the program in airports?

Good question. This is a market-driven, private sector venture offered in partnership with airports and airlines. Another vender could potentially enter the field.

Will Clear members be able to transfer memberships to other service providers?

That decision is between CLEAR, the other service provider, and the card holder.

After TSA’s pilot ended in July 2008, all RT service providers were obligated to follow data security standards to continue offering service. Service providers’ use of data, however, is regulated under its own privacy policy and by its relationship with its customers and sponsoring airport or airline. The information provided to TSA during the pilot will be destroyed as shown in the schedule on our web page.

***Update. This post was edited on 7/2/09 at 1300 to reflect additional information that was provided after it went live. ***

Encryption Is the Issue In Case of Missing Laptop

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the loss of a Clear®- owned laptop computer on July 26 that contained unencrypted data of approximately 33,000 customers. TSA has verified that a laptop was discovered by Clear® officials yesterday at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). It was voluntarily surrendered to TSA officials for forensic examination.

TSA’s regulatory role in this matter is as follows: Every commercial airport is required to have an approved airport security plan. So Registered Traveler is part of that comprehensive plan at the airports where it operates. Under the airport security plan, the sponsoring entity, (SFO in this case) is required to assure its vendors have an approved information security program. Because the computer at SFO was not encrypted it is in violation of the airport’s security plan.

TSA also has the ability to go directly to vendors when the plan is not being adhered to so TSA is conducting a broad review of all Registered Traveler providers’ information systems and data security processes to ensure compliance with security regulations.

Clear® needs to meet the information security requirements that they agreed to as part of the Register Traveler program before their enrollment privileges will be reinstated. Encryption is the wider issue as opposed to one incident with one laptop. So for now, Clear® enrollments remain curtailed.

Current customers will not experience any disruption when using Registered Traveler.

Eos Blog Team