3 ms·

Two new security incidents involving CLEAR ratchet up concern from lawmakers

16 points by philip1209 3y ago

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cj 3y ago
> have called for TSA to begin requiring all CLEAR passengers to present their IDs This wouldn't be the end of the world since the value prop of CLEAR is skipping the line. I imagine that needing to flash an ID to a TSA agent would not impact the experience for most CLEAR users. I'm curious how this compares to TSA's failure rate. E.g. does CLEAR fail to verify someone's identity more often than TSA agents through the regular line? It's hard to say if CLEAR is more or less "secure" without having a baseline to compare to.
dang 3y ago
Recent and related: CLEAR led a flyer carrying ammo under a false name to TSA, sparking probe - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36910372 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36910372 - July 2023 (93 comments) Also: Big change for some CLEAR users: TSA will soon require you to show ID - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36828361 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36828361 - July 2023 (22 comments) CLEAR is a pox on America’s airports - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34081156 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34081156 - Dec 2022 (94 comments)
snake_plissken 3y ago
I vehemently (border line militantly) refuse to use these services and actively tell friends and family not to use them. There are a few reasons but at the core, it's not right that people can pay to jump to the front of airport security, something everyone has to go through as a condition for getting on your flight. I'll leave with, it is a sad reflection of society that even the airport security line has been financialized.
- alphabettsy 3y ago
  > it's not right that people can pay to jump to the front of airport security This has been true for quite a long time before this service or Pre-Check existed afaik. Airports have VIP/Executive entrances and flyers with certain status “ex Delta Platinum” can use a different security checkpoint with a shorter line or skip to the front.
rabeener 3y ago
Notably missing from the article is a comparison of CLEAR’s failure rates and severity against the TSA’s. Admittedly, CLEAR doesn’t handle as many travelers as TSA so the data would need to be extrapolated but based on what I’ve read over the past decade, I suspect the TSA’s performance would be much worse. For example: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/11/13/us/tsa-failures-box-cutters-frontier-flight/index.html https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/11/13/us/tsa-failures-box-cutte... The truth is our entire system for airline security is theater and doesn’t actually make us safer. A number of other countries have solved this problem successfully, the US chooses not to. I wish more time was spent on fixing that mess instead of pursuing CLEAR.
- mrbuttons454 3y ago
  What have other countries done with success?
  - TheBill 3y ago
    https://simpleflying.com/tel-aviv-ben-gurion-airport-safety-analysis/ https://simpleflying.com/tel-aviv-ben-gurion-airport-safety-...

16 points by philip1209 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

cj 3y ago

> have called for TSA to begin requiring all CLEAR passengers to present their IDs This wouldn't be the end of the world since the value prop of CLEAR is skipping the line. I imagine that needing to flash an ID to a TSA agent would not impact the experience for most CLEAR users. I'm curious how this compares to TSA's failure rate. E.g. does CLEAR fail to verify someone's identity more often than TSA agents through the regular line? It's hard to say if CLEAR is more or less "secure" without having a baseline to compare to.

dang 3y ago

Recent and related: CLEAR led a flyer carrying ammo under a false name to TSA, sparking probe - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36910372 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36910372 - July 2023 (93 comments) Also: Big change for some CLEAR users: TSA will soon require you to show ID - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36828361 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36828361 - July 2023 (22 comments) CLEAR is a pox on America’s airports - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34081156 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34081156 - Dec 2022 (94 comments)

snake_plissken 3y ago

I vehemently (border line militantly) refuse to use these services and actively tell friends and family not to use them. There are a few reasons but at the core, it's not right that people can pay to jump to the front of airport security, something everyone has to go through as a condition for getting on your flight. I'll leave with, it is a sad reflection of society that even the airport security line has been financialized.

alphabettsy 3y ago
> it's not right that people can pay to jump to the front of airport security This has been true for quite a long time before this service or Pre-Check existed afaik. Airports have VIP/Executive entrances and flyers with certain status “ex Delta Platinum” can use a different security checkpoint with a shorter line or skip to the front.

rabeener 3y ago

Notably missing from the article is a comparison of CLEAR’s failure rates and severity against the TSA’s. Admittedly, CLEAR doesn’t handle as many travelers as TSA so the data would need to be extrapolated but based on what I’ve read over the past decade, I suspect the TSA’s performance would be much worse. For example: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/11/13/us/tsa-failures-box-cutters-frontier-flight/index.html https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/11/13/us/tsa-failures-box-cutte... The truth is our entire system for airline security is theater and doesn’t actually make us safer. A number of other countries have solved this problem successfully, the US chooses not to. I wish more time was spent on fixing that mess instead of pursuing CLEAR.

mrbuttons454 3y ago
What have other countries done with success?
- TheBill 3y ago
  https://simpleflying.com/tel-aviv-ben-gurion-airport-safety-analysis/ https://simpleflying.com/tel-aviv-ben-gurion-airport-safety-...