As I was perusing the internets the other day, I found a discussion on Reddit that brought up something I had been thinking about, albeit in a different context, for a couple of years already.
It was written by user wjustice721 in the Delta subreddit. They said:
Clear has officially jumped the Shark
By far the longest wait of all three options. Regular TSA Precheck faster, and today, the Standard line (with dogs) was the fastest. CLEAR was the slowest of all options. I get it free, but won’t be using it again… they should remove it from airports all together.
That started a conversation that, so far, has close to 300 replies (heads up for NSFW language, if you click on the link). They varied from “I like CLEAR” to “CLEAR sucks” and everywhere in between, including which airports are on either side of the spectrum in terms of suckage and non-suckage.
Note: For you youngin’ out there: The idiom “jumping the shark” or “jump the shark” is a pejorative that is used to argue that a creative work or entity has reached a point in which it has exhausted its core intent and is introducing new ideas that are discordant with, or an extreme exaggeration of, its original purpose. The phrase was coined in 1985 by radio personality Jon Hein in response to a 1977 episode from the fifth season of the American sitcom Happy Days, in which the character of Fonzie (Henry Winkler) jumps over a live shark while on water-skis. (Thanks, Wikipedia!)
Anyway, back to CLEAR…
CLEAR at airports has certainly had its “moments,” especially in terms of line length, price increases and the security issue they had with the TSA not long ago. But I don’t think CLEAR has necessarily jumped the shark as much as it’s continually evolving and figuring out where its niche is.
CLEAR was established in 2003 but declared bankruptcy in 2009. The biometric technology company was purchased in 2010, and launched in its first airport in 2012. Funny thing though – after 12(ish) years, they’re still only in about 56 commercial airports in the U.S. That’s only about 11% of them and that’s…not stellar.
CLEAR obviously wasn’t planning on putting all its eggs into one airport-shaped basket. Early on, they were offering their services in other ways, and have continued to expand:
Entry to U.S. sports arenas
August 2015 – CLEAR was installed in Yankee Stadium. This was the first time a sports arena was using biometric technology to help the lines move more quickly for CLEAR members.
Purchases at U.S. sports arenas
August, 2018 – Seattle sports fans enrolled with CLEAR became able to not only move through security quickly, but also purchase concessions with the tap of a finger at Seahawks, Sounders FC and Mariners home games.
Speed at U.S. car rental counters
December, 2018 – CLEAR partnered with Hertz to allow CLEAR members to skip the queues.
Entry to U.S. concert arenas
February, 2019 – CLEAR was established at Madison Square Garden so CLEAR members could enter the arena more quickly.
Partnership with U.S. law enforcement agencies
2020 – CLEAR began partnering with federal, state & local, tribal and dept. of defense law enforcement agencies across the country to use facial recognition as an effective lead tool.
Covid-19 screenings
May, 2020 – In the early days of the pandemic, CLEAR partnered with airports to offer Covid-19 screenings in the U.S.
CLEAR Reserve begins in U.S.
October, 2021 – Orlando International Airport does a pilot program for CLEAR Reserve, a “reserve your place in the TSA queue” program. The program was expanded to Canada in May of 2022, and Europe in August of 2022. CLEAR Reserve can also be found in multiple airports across the United States.
Adoption by major US commercial real estate management firm
January 2022 – America’s largest managed security provider for commercial real estate and tenants and leader in property technology, Kastle Systems, has partnered with Clear to integrate its biometrically-secured Health Pass into building management to help employers and facilities managers remain compliant with COVID-19-related regulations.
Biometrics in financial services & other private businesses
April, 2022 – CLEAR announced they were planning to offer its facial recognition technology to banks and other private businesses.
Partnership with hospitality suppliers
September, 2022 – Access-control software maker Virdee says it is adding Clear’s face biometric ID subscription service to its check-in and upsell applications.
Virdee sells across a number of industries, focusing on hospitality. It will use Clear for biometric identity verification, the companies say, to increase ease of use and security.
Checking in to a hotel using Virdee’s platform, Clear members will verify their identity with a photo. New users will enroll for free.
Participating guests will be able to process payments, customize their stay, receive a digital or physical key and head to their room without stopping at the reception desk, according to a joint announcement from the companies.
Biometrics in healthcare & social media
April 2023 – CLEAR announced their plans to expand into social media industries. LinkedIn was one of the first to sign on.
Deeper partnership with DHS
August, 2023 – Forbes reports that The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been using Clearview AI’s facial recognition tool to try and solve thousands of child exploitation cold cases.
AR Glasses
September, 2023 – CLEAR reported that it planned to integrate its facial recognition technology into a US$999 pair of augmented reality glasses, made by U.S. company Vuzix. The AR glasses, originally announced in February 2022, are connected to Clearview AI’s app and a database of 30 billion faces. This allows the wearer to identify someone up to 10 feet away.
Jumped the shark? Hardly
Just a quick search showed just a taste of the industries CLEAR has partnered with in the past few years. Granted, they’ve had more problems in other countries (Canada, Australia, Greece, Italy, etc.) due to better privacy laws, but they’re flourishing in the U.S.
As of April 2023, CLEAR said they had over 30 billion photos in its database (they told investors in February 2022 that they’d have 100 billion photos in its database within a year. How they can do that with only 8 billion people in the world? I guess they have multiple views per person they have on file – faces, irises, fingerprints, etc.). Even if their growth at airports is very slow – heck, even if they stop the airport service altogether – they still have their hands in well over a dozen other baskets. AND they have the biometric info for a whole, WHOLE lot of people, which gives them the power to continue to grow.
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4 comments
CLEAR line at LAS and EWR is almost always longer than TSAPre
9 times out of 10, CLEAR is quicker than TSAPre at ORD. There are the occasional times when they may not have the best combination of competent staff working together on shift, at which time you’re better off going into the TSAPre line if it’s short. But it is usually the quickest way. Used it twice – with my 12 year old daughter – in the past week (ORD and PBI) and it worked like a charm. And they are expanding into smaller airports, little by little.
So, no, I don’t think they’ve jumped the shark at all.
Saved me an hour on Sunday over TSA Pre and 2 hours over regular TSA at the third-world country known as Miami Terminal G1-16. However Clear was slower at STL Terminal 1 the prior week. The biggest I’ve seen lately with CLEAR is that have increased the discounted prices too much so unless you get it free it’s not worth it for the casual traveler. In addition, they have been trying to upgrade people to documentless verification at the kiosks and it takes forever and for some people, it just doesn’t work. This has led to delays for many.
I signed up for it and went through the hassle at LAX when it was shorter to use the Pre + Clear line, even with signing up/doing biometrics, than the regular TSA Pre line. I have tried to use it twice since- once it worked but didn’t seem to save me any time over Pre, and once they had to redo my biometrics for the second time and that still didn’t work (they said they’ve been having problems). Luckily the woman bypassed it somehow and got me through but it was annoying to spend a couple minutes on it, and then worry about delay, and then finally get through. The other times the TSA Pre + Clear lines have been longer than the TSA Pre only lines and I’ve skipped it. I travel once a month internationally so use security going and coming back bc I always transit an airport and connect. It seems like a waste of money especially now that my home airport, ABIA (AUS), has reconfigured to have plain Clear and plain TSA next to each other and TSA Pre all on it’s own, near the gates I use the most. So if I want to see if TSA Pre vs TSA Pre +Clear combo is faster I have to go to the other end of the terminal and then walk back. Negating the time savings. So yeah $100+ wasted. I’ll dump it when it is time to renew.