What is CLEAR?
Never heard of CLEAR before? We’ll thats because a ton of people actually signed up for CLEAR and then it went under during the economic crisis. However, it is now back and bigger than ever as a new option to expedite travel security. The slogan is to get travelers through airport security in 5 minutes or less at airports across the US. With their own dedicated lanes and service-trained staff, members can bypass those good ole long security TSA lanes.
So what exactly is CLEAR? CLEAR is a biometrics platform that uses both of ones eyes, your face and finger tips to confirm you are who you are. CLEAR takes this information and turns it into an encrypted code. Each time you check in, your eyes and finger prints are checked against this code. CLEAR is SAFETY act certified, which is a certification the Department of Homeland Security uses to incentivize the development and deployment of anti-terrorism technologies by creating systems of risk management and mitigation.
CLEAR is primarily in airports but has also extend to sporting events. So where are they currently located?
New York:
Westchester Country Airport
Citi Field
Yankee Stadium
Laguardia Airport
Baltimore:
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport
Washington D.C:
Dulles International Airport
Ronald Reagan Washington Nation Airport
Detroit:
Comerica Park
Detroit Metro Airport
Atlanta:
SunTrust Park
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Orlando:
Orlando International Airport
Minneapolis:
Minneapolis- St. Paul International Airport
Fort. Lauderdale:
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
Miami:
Miami International Airport
AmericanAirlines Arena
Marlins Park
New Orleans:
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport
Dallas:
Dallas Love Field Airport
Dallas/ Fort Worth International Airport
Houston:
William P. Hobby Airport
George Bush Intercontinental Airport
Austin
Austin-Bergstorm International Airport
San Antonio
San Antonio International Airport
Denver
Coors Field
Denver International Airport
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City International Airport
Phoenix
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
Las Vegas
McCarran International Airport
Seattle
CenturyLink Field
T-Mobile Park
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Los Angeles
Los Angeles International Airport
Banc of California Stadium
San Jose
Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport
Avaya Stadium
San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco International Airport
Oakland-Alameda Country Coliseum
Oracle Park
The process:
You go to the CLEAR station and complete the biometrics.
You are then taken to front of the standard security line.
or
If you have TSA Precheck, you are then taken to front of that line.
Once at the front, you show the TSA agent your boarding pass and proceed through the screening area as you normally would.
But How Is Your Data Protected?
With the litany of data breaches and hacks suffered by private companies and government agencies alike, you may be asking: how will the CLEAR program keep my biometric and identification details safe and secure?
The CLEAR website details the steps they take to safeguard your information including:
Utilizing encryption to make it harder for hackers to access your data
Storing your data on secure servers that utilize firewall protection
Monitoring the servers with intrusion detection and prevention systems
As the recent data breaches have proven, no system is completely impenetrable so everyone considering the program will have to take that into account when giving up their biometric information, but with all the other systems already utilizing biometric information it may not make much of a difference having the CLEAR program possessing it.