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TSA Asked to Ensure Safety Of Customer Data After Clear Closing
CWmike writes "The chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), has given the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) until July 8 to explain how the agency plans to ensure the security of private data collected by a recently shuttered company that offered a registered traveler program. In a letter to the TSA's acting assistant secretary, Thompson expressed his concern over the abrupt closure of Verified Identity Pass (VIP), which offered a service called Clear for a $199 annual fee that helped air travelers get through airport security checks faster by vetting their identities and backgrounds in advance. VIP has left open the possibility that the data could end up being acquired or sold to a third-party, but only if it was going to be used for a registered traveler program."
Then maybe they can ask the nice wolves down the street to look after our hens while we're on that vacation.
cogito ergo dubito
$199 x 260,000 customers = $51,740,000.
This company shut down for "financial" reasons. Like they took the money and ran?
I'm not surprised, the TSA and its money grubbing sycophantic associates are a steaming pile of shit.
All this company does is do background checks and issue a plastic card, and they can't do it for 51 million gross?
Typical government contractor type boondoggle (strictly speaking, they were not a contractor).
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
Not that it matters, I'm sure it had a "we can change this at will without notifying you" clause, like every other one.
Is anyone else bothered by the very existence of these companies? "Pay us and we'll get you through the security faster by taking all this personal information and running it through the security checks early, etc."
The hassle is a part of the security program designed by the TSA to keep Americans safer, not create new business opportunities. It seems to me the TSA should be offering the same service to travelers for free. Let people submit the same information beforehand, have all the info run through checks, and stored so folks are less inconvenienced by the "safety measures" they insist on.
According to the Computerworld article:
"They had your social security information, credit information, where you lived, employment history, fingerprint information," said Clear customer David Maynor, who is chief technical officer with Errata Security in Atlanta. "They should be the only ones who have access to that information."
and
"Other providers, who may now be interested in purchasing Clear's assets, include Flo and Preferred Traveler. "
Given the capability by companies to effectively hide their interested principals through convoluted international structures I wonder how hard it would be for a front-company to buy this info on behalf of criminal organisations, terrorist groups or other nation states.
Buh-bye, then.
-=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
If you don't think technical and legal handling of this sort and size of identifying data by a large entity is important then you shouldn't of been here to begin with.
How different entities around the world, government, private or both, handles personal information is of great interest to many people within the IT industry.
Go back to the hole of irrelevance you crawled out of.
Is only going to cost an extra $199 annually? Wow, I hope banks don't catch onto any of this. Otherwise it will be nothing but "You may present a potential security risk so before you can deposit that check we will need to either strip search you, OR you can just pay us 200 dollars."
and that the TSA cannot do this BY NOW.
Let alone the whole fact that the TSA is yet another example of government sanctioned Political Connectedness run amok. My mom finally had a flight; she flies a few times a years; where she didn't get stopped. What makes her stand out? Oh, I dunno, but age sixty plus white women with small dogs are apparently a threat to US security. They don't even seem to notice her bag with needles for her insulin, or the pump attached to her. Yeah, last time she traveled she didn't have the dog.
Throw in the stories about how the TSA cannot profile and then how do we expect to have "security". You get it by profiling. Sorry, but when the next plane gets 'jacked all that political connectedness will have done what? Gotten more people killed.
Besides, the next method will be to shoot one down that is taking off. That will make 9/11's flight scares look benign.
So now we need private companies because the efficiency of a union staffed government agency is below par. What part of DUH don't people understand. Yet so many here want to turn over their health care to these same goons who can't even get you to your plane on time. Where is the proper sense of priorities here?
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
It doesn't matter what the privacy policy says. Nobody pays attention to those anyways. Nobody cares. Really. Do you see 260 000 people on the barricades because of this? No? If they ever hear about their data being sold, they will be "Uhh. I don't like that." and continue as if nothing had happened.
Except one of them who will raise a lawsuit - not because he or she actually cared about the data that much but because he or she sees that as an easy opportunity to become a multimillionaire.
I know that it isn't practical for some to travel by air. I've had to do it myself as part of the job, a time or two. But the last time I did it just wasn't the fun it experience that it used to be.
âoeAny society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
I remember when I could come on here years and years ago and actually be interested in all the stories. Now, after I wade through all the propaganda, there's not enough substance to occupy me for ten minutes.
You might have Alzheimer's... or a developing aneurysm... you should have that checked out.
People must have had to file pairs of shoes with this company that have already been taken off and searched. They should ask the TSA to ensure the safety of the shoes too.
I've seen the Clear system in many airports. It was always empty. It always seemed to me that their ability to speed you though security was not because they possessed better background info but simply a matter of supply and demand - few occasional or even frequent travelers would pony up the $199. I never thought WHAT they did was any different - they still make you take out your computer, take off your shoes, etc. Having been through many non-Clear security lines, I'll tell you they I strongly doubt they are doing any background checks on me as I pass through security - there's no way to get my personal data unless they have a face recognition system to die for. So, why did Clear actually need all this background data?
I hate being bipolar; it's awesome!
All of us have our own problems. I could imagine that most of those 260k people will never really be affected much even if their data is sold. They have a lot more important things to care about than that and if they happen to not have much problems at the moment the probably want to enjoy that situation in stead of organizing mass protests.
As a society, we should make sure that this kind of shit doesn't happen. It's important for the sake of our future. As individuals... In nearly any specific situation, it is better for us to let things slide than do something about it. Same that is true for privacy is also true about fighting climate change or any other major issue, really.
Turns out that "If everyone of us just tries to look out for themselves, it will eventually result in an awesome society" is just a fairy tale much loved by some large corporations.
When was the last time that you - yes, you, the reader - did something else tan wrote a comment on the Internet? How often have you called your congressman? Donated for important political causes? Marched in rallies? Or done anything else. Do you feel like you've really made your best to improve this society?
"If you don't vote, don't complain" is one thing I hear but really, voting once in a few years and complaining in the internet isn't enough either.
As long as we're being told we'll be SAFE, Americans are willing to give up any and all freedoms. "Hand over all your private information and we'll keep you 'safe'." How are we any different than communist China these days... Our government gives us a few freedoms as long as we keep buying shit and making them rich. The only thing that matters anymore in this country is the Economy.