A new bill, the first of its kind in the U.S., would ban security screening company Clear from operating at California airports as lawmakers take aim at companies that let consumers pay to pass through security ahead of other travelers.
Sen. Josh Newman, a California Democrat and the sponsor of the legislation, said Clear effectively lets wealthier people skip in front of passengers who have been waiting to be screened by Transportation Security Administration agents.
“It’s a basic equity issue when you see people subscribed to a concierge service being escorted in front of people who have waited a long time to get to the front of TSA line,” Newman told CBS MoneyWatch. “Everyone is beaten down by the travel experience, and if Clear escorts a customer in front of you and tells TSA, ‘Sorry, I have someone better,’ it’s really frustrating.”
If passed, the bill would bar Clear, a private security clearance company founded in 2010, from airports in California. Clear charges members $189 per year to verify passengers’ identities at airports and escort them through security, allowing them to bypass TSA checkpoints. The service is in use at roughly 50 airports across the U.S., as well as at dozens of sports stadiums and other venues.
Having watched clear in action, I’m not even sure it’s worth it. I have pre check and I watch the clear line from my line. Clear works based on these kiosks that scan your face. You need to be waved in to a kiosk and everyone seems to need help from one of the onsite technicians anyway, so it’s not like those kiosks are in full use all the time or all that efficient. Also, a clear employee has to escort you to the TSA desk to be waved through. Clear users still need to go through the TSA screening, so they join the pre-check line where you don’t have to take off your shoes.
Waiting for a kiosk, waiting for clear staff assistance; these things become a bottle neck and frankly the line doesn’t move much faster, if at all, than pre-check. Pre check costs less than $20/year. Clear costs nearly $200/year. You might save 5 minutes or you might actually take longer to get through. I just don’t see the value.
Oh yeah, and there is also the fact that you’ve given your biometric information to a private company. I’m sure they won’t be tempted to exploit or sell that information to make more revenue when they’ve exhausted their airport line based growth. /s
They are 100% selling the biometrics.
The real business model is to get people used to paid tiered airport security. This is not the money maker. The money maker comes later when they will sell multiple tiers of on-demand line skipping in airports which are getting kickbacks to make the standard security tier as miserable as possible.
Even the airlines are trying to grab that information now. I flew last week and United had these cameras in front of the gate like they needed to scan everyone’s face. I was like, no I’m not doing that and the gate agent was like “it’s the only way on the plane.” I had looked it up online and found that was BS, so I told him “not according to your privacy policy.” So, he goes “well, do you have a boarding pass?” Of course I have a fucking boarding pass, thats the way it’s done. I got on the plane without having my biometrics taken. So, everyone else on the plane just had theirs taken because United wanted that data, but they didn’t need it. People just go along with it because they’re scared to say no.