Clear provides Biometric ID card service for fast security at two more airports

Have you heard about this?

There’s a company called Verified Identity Pass that operates a service called “Clear,” which, for a hundred dollars per year, gives travelers a “biometrically encoded identification card.” This card lets you use the adult equivalent of a Disneyland Fast-Pass lane.

The New York Times noted a few days ago that both Washington Dulles and Reagan National will have the system up and running in “a few weeks.”

What is Clear? Their web site describes the service and the premise behind it:

It’s basic risk management: someone who is pre-screened is less likely to be a threat than someone who isn’t. That’s the simple premise behind Clear. By participating in the government’s Registered Traveler Program at airports Clear Members will spend less time in security lines.

Essentially, the bet is that pre-screened people (who can prove they’re who they say they are) are less likely to pull anything while traveling. My guess is that they’re right.

It’s a little bothersome to me that it costs $100 per year (and a lot of privacy) for the ability to fly a little faster. But I guess the alternative is to have the government running a system like this…

What do you think? It is better to have that data in private hands or in the hands of the government? And are you going to sign up for Clear?