What a load of crock!

If it weren’t enough that you have to go through airport hell every time you must take an airplane, some people is trying to cash in, and they are using terrorism to their advantage. Enter Clear card.

From their CEO (read while playing patriotic music on the background, waving an American flag) :

“I started Verified Identity Pass with a simple idea: In the post 9-11 era we have to take new measures to protect ourselves yet not destroy our way of life by strangling the free flow of people and commerce. Somehow, we have to find common sense solutions that don’t make everyone a suspect and create security bottlenecks everywhere we go. To be blunt, that means we need a fair, sensible way not to treat everyone the same when it comes to terrorism protection.”

The load of horse manure starts. Can you guess what comes next?

“Clear’s simple, two step enrollment process begins online. Applicants create an account and fill-in basic biographic information. Then, applicants must go to a Clear enrollment location, where our attendants will verify two forms of government-issued identification, and capture a photograph, your fingerprint images and your iris images. This information is used to allow you access to the designated Clear lane at the checkpoint. More information on enrollment.”

Give all your information to a third party company. That’s just great! And, on top of it, pay for it. Awesome so far…

“The Clear lane is a designated lane at the security checkpoint. Clear Members must verify a fingerprint or iris image collected during enrollment in order to enter the lane. At the Clear lane, a Clear attendant will greet you and check your boarding pass, Clear card and government-issued photo ID. You will be asked to insert your Clear card into the kiosk, which also verify the fingerprint or iris image that you selected during enrollment. When everything is verified which takes just a few seconds, you will receive a receipt indicating that you are a Clear member.”

Oh, ma’look, I am a Clear member!

“Clear members still proceed through metal detectors and x-ray machines operated and regulated by the Department of Homeland Security but other parts of the process are expedited. When you approach the lane, our attendants will help you with the bins and to get ready to go through the checkpoint. This alone helps our lane speed by as much as 30%.”

Back to the line, like everyone else. Well, this is just great, I must get “Cleared” now! Did I tell you this load of crock costs $100 for the first year, $200 for two years or $300 for three. ‘Clear’ mathematics! I don’t even want to link this crooks. They make me sick.