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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