Brad Ideas - Secrets of the "Clear" airport security line - Comments

Thanks for the update

brad — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:23:44 -0700

My main objection to Clear was the pointless background check, which seemed like an end-run around getting people to expect or want a world of background checks being necessary to get good treatment.

I don’t think the other objection is valid. The rule was that the shoe scanner was only to be allowed at the Clear lane if it was judged to be as good as, or better than the existing X-ray method. Now they could make a mistake in determining that, perhaps there might be a flaw in the shoe scanner which bad guys could exploit. But that’s true of any method they might approve, and any effort to improve the quality of the process.

However, the basic philosophy Clear was selling was, if there is a technology that is just as good, but faster, and it’s more expensive, and it’s so much more expensive that only a fraction of people can use it, then it makes sense to use money as a way to decide who gets it. My objection to Clear was the idea that background checks should be used in deciding who gets it. This is particularly true given the TSA’s rule that the whole process be sped up. The rich people, wanting to go through really fast, enable it so the hoi polloi still go through a little bit faster in their wake. Everybody wins, but some people don’t win as much.

As noted, if a new tech is cheap enough it should be deployed for everybody, but clearly one can imagine technologies that are so expensive that they can’t go in every line. The most obvious is the “technology” of extra scanners and staff for a whole new line.

A brief correction

Peter Glaskowsky — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:23:43 -0700

Clear stopped running background checks in July 2008. I didn't know that when I wrote about the company on CNET in September last year, but Ellen Howe of the TSA's public-affairs office noticed the post and let me know, which I appreciated.

http://news.cnet.com/speedsandfeeds/?keyword=Clear

I didn't like the idea of offering two different kinds of security screening regardless of what kind of pre-screening is performed, and I really didn't like Clear's attempt to extend its business to football stadiums and other places. Both scheme would let terrorists choose the entry path least likely to detect their chosen weapons.

There's more analysis in those posts, and it's all still relevant to any other private companies still pursuing similar strategies.

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"and they reduced your time

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:26:54 -0700

"and they reduced your time through, and the overall throughput of the system"

You probably meant to say "and improve the overall throughput." The existing wording made me think you were saying the throughput is also reduced.

Secrets of the "Clear" airport security line

brad — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:27:38 -0700

Yesterday it was announced that “Clear” (Verified ID Pass) the special “bypass the line at security” card company, has shut its doors and its lines. They ran out of money and could not pay their debts. No surprise there, they were paying $300K/year rent for their space at SJC and only 11,000 members used that line.

As I explained earlier, something was fishy about the program. It required a detailed background check, with fingerprint and iris scan, but all it did was jump you to the front of the line — which you get for flying in first class at many airports without any background check. Their plan, as I outline below, was to also let you use a fancy shoe and coat scanning machine from GE, so you would not have to take them off. However, the TSA was only going to allow those machines once it was verified they were just as secure as existing methods — so again no need for the background check.

To learn more about the company, I attended a briefing they held a year ago for a contest they were holding: $500,000 to anybody who could come up with a system that sped up their lines at a low enough cost. I did have a system, but also wanted to learn more about how it all worked. I feel sorry for those who worked hard on the contest who presumably will not be paid.

Brad Ideas - Secrets of the "Clear" airport security line - Comments

Thanks for the update

A brief correction

"and they reduced your time

Secrets of the "Clear" airport security line

The background check